Angelo delle Rose
by Tigaier
Summary: (Angel of Roses) Nadeshiko Sawada knew she was reborn when she hears Japanese and isn't being called Angela de la Rosa. Younger sister to Tsunayoshi Sawada, she discovers that her new life is in a world where purple flames make anything happen - even give a girl wings. Learning that Tsuna is next in line to become Mafia Boss, you can bet that she'll support him no matter what.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings**: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

***My favorite KHR Fanfic is the Russian Roulette series written by Vixen Tail. Sonya is the BEST. I hope to create characters and plots like Vixen Tail does and will do my best with information gathering, etc.***

**Enjoy the story!**

_Italicized words = _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

* * *

_NO! Ate Angela! ATE!_

* * *

It was hot.

One of those days where you'd go to the beach or stay at home blasting the airconditioning. However, Angela was invited to spend some time with her extended family and guess where they decided to go - the beach.

Angela typically enjoyed reading on the beach, but her younger cousins joined them this weekend which meant actually swimming and playing in the sand. She couldn't blame them. Her closest related cousin David was nine, his older sister Anna was thirteen, and the rest were in between those ages or a bit younger. She'd rather be a twenty-year-old playing with little kids rather than talking about school and work with the adults.

Following the group of kids as they swam to the nearby sandbar, she stationed herself on the edges to keep an eye on as many as she could. She saw Anna with their twelve-year-old cousin Abby on one end and David nearby on a boogie board. She really admired him for being able to swim as well as he did at his age. She knows some kids who are his age who are too afraid to even dunk their heads into the water for more than three seconds.

So there she sat, praying that she didn't get sunburned as the parents and adults chatted on the beach and the kids adventured out into the ocean.

Everything was fine.

And then it wasn't.

Angela decided to take a quick scan around for her cousins, but _couldn't find David anywhere._

_Don't panic_, she thought, _He could just be behind somebody and I can't see him from my position_. Getting up she noticed his boogie board floating a few yards from the sand bar and no David. Looking further out she saw David floating further and further away from the boogie board and away from the sand bar and knew it must have been a rip current that caught him.

"Someone help!" Angela cried out jumping up and down and waving her hands in the hopes of getting the attention of the lifeguard. But everyone on the sandbar - mostly kids and a couple of adults - were in shock that a kid got whisked away that fast and the lifeguards had 200 or so other people to watch that they must not have heard or seen her over the bustle of people and the crashing waves.

Not knowing what else to do, she dived into the water, paddling on his boogie board, until she reached him and switched places with him so he could rest atop the float. The poor kid was frozen and must have been in shock because he just stared at her with frightened eyes and a trembling lip. After peddling so hard to reach him, she was out of breath and noticed they were even further away from shore. Possibly 100 yards and counting because she could still feel and see the pull of the current dragging them further and further out into the ocean. Still no _friggin' _lifeguard in sight.

Angela heard about how swimming perpendicular to the rip current may help so she gathered her energy to propel them as much as possible back to shore. She wasn't a bad swimmer, but it felt like she was moving nowhere but out to sea.

Then she felt it - a wave was coming.

Angela could feel the water lowering and pulling and knew she couldn't keep holding onto the board while David was on it or else the board would overturn and they'd both be pushed under the water.

_There was only one choice._

"David. David, listen to me," she tapped his cheek and treaded the water as much as she could to bring her face as close to his as possible. He whimpered softly.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's gonna be alright, okay? You'll be alright and I'll be alright-" _She wasn't going to be alright_ "- and we'll-" _you'll "- _be back on land with everyone. Promise."

_The water was pulling. _

"David, I love you, everything will be fine….Don't worry." And with that, she gave him one last push as the wave crashed on them and carried him back to shore.

_You'll be alright. Everything will be fine. _

_If only._

* * *

Sand and salt were all that she could see as she was pulled under the water. Seconds seemed like minutes for her and she knew she was drowning. She had no energy to swim up, couldn't feel the floor, and it was growing dark.

_Or was it just her? _She could see the sun and sky above her as the water calmed, but just like in those movies you watch as someone is passing out, Angela felt like the dark was creeping in at the edges of her vision.

_At least David's alright. He should have gotten back to shore or someone must have gotten to him by now. Unlike me._ It was a morbid thought, but she was satisfied that David was saved from having a short life and that his parents wouldn't have to bury their only son. No parent should ever have to bury their child.

She was sad she was dying, but she was the last of her immediate family. No siblings. Father died from diabetes a year ago. Her mom died from a shooting outside of the hospital she worked at 2 years before that. And she had to put down her fourteen-year-old labrador-pitbull, Banban, just last month because her arthritis was causing her so much pain even with the medicine the vet prescribed. No one was left but her.

"_Thank you, God, for letting me live the life I lived. For taking care of Mom, Dad, and Banban up in heaven. For saving David. Thank you, and please take care of me as well."_

Finally, she let her eyes close. Her last sight being the blue sky.

* * *

_**Ate **_**(ah-teh) = older sister in Tagalog **

**Rip currents have been recorded to span over 1,000 feet from the beach and some rip currents aren't circular therefore this one wouldn't bring Angela and David back to the shore and instead took them straight out to sea. Although rip currents are only on the surface of the ocean, it was the large wave crashing down on David and Angela that pulled her under and disoriented her. **

**Everyone be careful at the beach b/c lifeguards can't always be there for you and rip currents act quick. There are tells to find out where they are which you can research online really quickly. It's important to be aware of your surroundings and to not overestimate your swimming abilities b/c anything can happen just like **_**that**_**.**

* * *

**Thank you for reading! I wanted to wait until I finished planning out the plot, but a have a good chunk planned already and wanted to get this out to start. I'll do my best to bust out the chapters I've planned, but writing is harder than math and science for me so it'll take a bit of time. **

**Review if you're interested in the Angelo delle Rose!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings**: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

**Enjoy the story!**

_Italicized words = _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

* * *

Angela de la Rosa wondered how she ended up as an adorable blonde two-year-old girl with amber eyes when she was sure she died a black-haired brown-eyed Filipina. She doesn't remember much of these past two years. Only the sense that there was always someone with her, particularly a tiny someone, and the cooing of her new mother and father, Nana and Iemitsu.

She was _ecstatic_ to know she'd have to learn Japanese. Cue eye rolls and groans.

At least she loved anime in her Before life so things like "_Nadeshiko-chan ga kawai!"_ are easy to understand. And yes, she was now named Nadeshiko. She loved her new name and the nickname her brother gave her.

Yes, she now has a brother. His name is Tsunayoshi, or her mother's preferred nickname Tsu-kun. His nicknames for her was Nade and Nade-chan. He was _almost_ as adorable as the adorableness that was her, but she thought her two-year-old self beat the five-year-old brown fluff ball. Tsunayoshi was likely the tiny ball of warmth she remembers curling around her from her infant days where night and day were still iffy for her.

Now that she could reliably talk to her family she decided to figure out what to call her brother by testing out different names for him. Walking up to him - more like wobbling, but no one but them was there so she was walking - she tugged on his shirt and glanced up.

"Tsu-nii?"

Nadeshiko had to admit that watching her brother's smile spread across his face with a little blush was very rewarding...but she still wanted to try other names.

"Tsu-tsu? Tsu-niichan? Tsu-niisan? Tsu-niisama?" Okay the last was just for fun but she couldn't help herself as her brother's face got redder and redder and his arms flailed around in embarrassment. Nadeshiko nodded to herself and decided 'Tsu-nii' was best because she really liked his smile when she called him that.

* * *

As her Mama and Papa flirted on the picnic blanket where other families and couples resided, Tsu-nii and Nadeshiko played in the field of flowers a bit away. _Come on, I've seen anime characters make flower crowns it can't be that hard, _she grumbled internally while trying to braid the stems together with her short chubby fingers. Finally, getting something resembling a braid she determinedly got to work adding more flowers and clovers.

"_Hie_!"

Looking up, Nade saw her nii-chan fall on his butt and scrambling back from a - _WAS THAT A SNAKE?!_

"Tsu-nii!" She could see the brown snake rearing up to strike her brother as he curled up with his head in his hands waiting for the inevitable. Sprinting toward Tsuna, Nadeshiko felt something warm inside of her flare out and next thing she knew she was hugging her brother with her back to the aggravated snake, eyes closed in preparation for the bite.

Nadeshiko was scared but after a couple of seconds of no pain, she opened her eyes to look behind her and saw two purple enflamed white wings separating her brother and her from the snake's unhinged mouth. With an unintentional flap of her wings, the snake went flying far away from where the two children crouched in shock.

Tsuna, feeling his imouto's arms around his trembling body, panicked even more because Nade getting hurt because of him was worse than any snake bite. _I'm supposed to protect my imouto not be protected!_ He looked up, ready to push Nade out of the way, and saw what he'd remember as one of the most beautiful sights ever. Large white wings ablaze with purple flames connected to the back of his little sister's tiny back.

He reached toward the wings and just as he was about to touch them, they burst into a shower of rose petals. The two siblings stared at each other with awed expressions.

Nadeshiko was shocked to say the least. Burning wings - burning _purple_ wings - weren't something she'd heard about in her last life let alone her new one of two years. She glanced at her Tsu-nii in the hope that he was alright and wasn't freaking out like she was internally and was even more shocked when he went to touch them.

No promises were exchanged, but they knew what happened would be kept a secret between them.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**

**Special thanks to**** merendinoemiliano and foxchick1 for being my first reviews \\(^u^)/!**

**7/30/19**


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings**: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

**Enjoy the story!**

_Italicized words = _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

* * *

For the next few years, Nadeshiko experimented with what she called her Flames and noticed how her purple flames came in two different hues.

One was a wispy indigo flame that let her do magic like from the Harry Potter series and make those pretty white wings that she fell in love with. It was like she had the power to make anything happen as long as she thought of it. Tsuna and her would huddle under the blankets as she conjured up whatever they could come up with although their favorite was still her wings.

The other purple flame was a lighter livelier violet color that seemed to make her _way_ stronger than her little body should be able to be. It also let her multiply her and Tsuna's toys which she found out when they wanted more blocks to build a bigger fortress for their stuffed animals.

Her Tsu-nii said she had another pretty orange flame, but she couldn't conjure it up like her purple flames. While she was frustrated at her unknown flame, Tsuna felt like the two she already could summon were enough for now. He was worried that some bad guy like the ones from his favorite cartoons would come and take Nade away for her magic. When he got like this Nadeshiko swore she could see his warm brown eyes glow with an orange tint.

Thankfully Nadeshiko was a very introverted and independent child. In her Before life, she was considered introverted, and that just carried on into her present life. She didn't mind since she knew her age mates were still immature little troublemakers with the energy of an energizer bunny on crack. Yeah, she was fine with reading and drawing by herself until her peers reached some level of maturity.

* * *

When Tsuna was six and Nadeshiko was three, their Papa returned with his boss who they were to call Nonno. Nade thought it meant grandfather in Italian or something, but she wasn't sure and decided to just go with it. The knowing look she and her brother got from their _Nonno_ was unnerving. She didn't know if it was her dragging her brother or Tsuna dragging her, but the two fled to the back yard.

The adults gathered in the living room while Tsu-nii and her played ball outside and away from the piercing eyes of their Nonno. When they weren't being watched by their parents or in public their games got pretty creative. Tsuna was throwing the ball as high as he could while Nade jumped up with her flame-supported legs and gently flapped her wings back to the ground. She didn't know how to fly just yet, but she could hover in place pretty well.

They were just about to add in quidditch rings when their neighbor's rat - _ahem - _Chihuahua, Rui, strut into their yard. Her Tsu-nii wasn't a fan of dogs no matter the size, but since Nade had Banban in her Before life a little dog like Rui wasn't that scary. Of course, trying to explain that to her six-year-old brother was almost impossible so being the _mentally _older sibling, she crouched in front of the pup to show her jumpy brother that it was harmless.

While petting the oversized rat - _ahem - _puppy she gave her Nii-chan a carefree smile. However, being the puppy that it was, it decided to play with the little person's limb on its head and closed its teeth on her hand.

Nadeshiko knew that a dog bite - especially a playful puppy dog bite - wasn't the most hurtful thing in the world nor was she bleeding much, but her younger body was shocked and felt slightly betrayed by the canine. Unknowingly, she began to tear up and was wailing in the next moment. Orange and purple flames pulsed out from her swirled around her distressed form.

Tsuna, seeing her crying, hugged her tightly. His own Sky flames unconsciously scaring away the Chihuahua and calming his crying imouto. Exhausted mentally and physically, Nadeshiko's young body decided a nap was needed and fell asleep in Tsuna's arms. Tsuna was smiling now that he could see Nade was okay and his flames returned inside of him while he joined her in her nap.

Curious of the commotion outside, Iemitsu and Timoteo peeked outside to see Tsuna and Nadeshiko surrounded by the boy's Sky flames. As the flames receded, they watched as Tsuna joined his sibling in sleep and entwining their limbs as they curled on the grass

"That's my cute Tuna fish and Ko-chan!" Iemitsu exclaimed as he went to collect the sleeping children. While he did this, Timoteo could see the potential in Tsuna, but knew Iemitsu wanted to keep his family away from the mafia world.

Coming up from behind Iemitsu as he held his children in both his arms, Timoteo lit his index finger with his own Sky flames and touched it to Tsuna's forehead.

"I know you've never wanted this life for your children Iemitsu, but your son has the potential to be a great boss. Even you could feel the warmth of his flames," he said with a pointed look to his External Advisor, "I will seal some of his flames to hide him as much as possible from our enemies, but he is destined for something great."

Iemitsu gazed at his slumbering children with a contemplative look. He spent months and years away from his family - away from is beloved Nana - to keep them safe from his world, but in the end, they may be brought into it despite his efforts. "What about your sons, Nono? The inheritance is rightfully theirs before my son's."

"That is where you're wrong, Iemitsu. You know you could have inherited Vongola if you hadn't become my External Advisor. The blood that flows through your veins and the veins of your children are purer than even mine."

"But Nono-"

"I'm not saying that young Tsunayoshi has to become the Tenth," his closed his eyes as if to deny that a civilian may one day lead the strongest mafia family, "but if something happens to my own heirs, he is likely to become the heir to the Vongola Family."

With a resigned sigh, Iemitsu reluctantly conceded, "I understand. I do not like it, but I understand Nono." The two shared a solemn look.

"Iemitsu-kun! Timoteo-san! Tsu-kun! Na-chan! Lunch is ready!" Nana called from the kitchen.

Iemitsu gave a roaring laugh but carefully heald his undisturbed children, "Coming, Nana!" He only hoped that his little Ko-chan will be able to live a carefree life away from the influence of the mafia and flames.

* * *

_imouto_** = little sister**

**Sorry to say, Iemitsu, but Nadeshiko already has a taste of the supernatural and she's gonna rock the world!**

**Review, please! I really wish I could put more detail and add more perspectives, but I'm still getting used to creative writing. Wish me luck!**

**Heading on to the Daily Life Arc in the next chapter!**

**Thanks for reading! Special thanks to nextss6 for being my first follower :D!**

**1/7/20**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings**: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

**Enjoy the story!**

_Italicized words = _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**There'll be a lot more dialogue in these following chapters now that we're getting Canon. This was one of the first parts I wrote when I first thought of the plot and used the anime as a guide for the majority of these scenes. I edited and added my draft so hope you like it!**

* * *

Life has been normal for Nadeshiko.

At least as normal as a child who can use magical flames can be. She's learned more about her purple and orange flames and still found it fascinating how much she could do with the two purple flames. The orange ones, like her beloved brother's, don't really _do_ anything, except make her and the others around her - usually Tsuna - happy. She somehow found herself as one of the popular kids in this new life of hers even though she wasn't part of Midori Elementary's student council, sports, or clubs - just her introverted book-reading self.

She tended to wake up before her alarm for 7:15 AM rang and that was no different this day. Using the momentum from swinging her legs up and over the side of her bed to get up, she went to take a shower before Tsuna did his daily scramble to get ready for school. After her quick 10 minute shower, she dressed in her Midori Elementary School sailor uniform consisting of a gray skirt, knee-high white socks, a white blouse with a gray collar, and a light-yellow scarf. She liked the Japanese uniforms more compared to the ones in the Philippines she remembered seeing her mom wear in her old school photos_. _It also made deciding what to wear to school so much easier when she had a dress code to follow. Don't get her wrong, public schools were fun and all but the stress of picking out an outfit that wasn't the same as one from the last week used to freak her out.

Braiding two small plaits with the shorter strands on the side of her face and leaving the rest of her hair to fall straight down her back, Nadeshiko brushed her side bangs out of the way and headed downstairs for breakfast. Giving her mother a bright smile, "Good morning, Mama! What's for breakfast?"

"Good morning, Nade-chan! Did you sleep well? I made some omelets for you and your brother."After their morning pleasantries, she sat at the table and began digging into her breakfast as her mama called for her dead asleep brother.

"Nade-chan, I'm going to get Tsu-kun before he ends up getting late. I found this wonderful flier in our mail this morning and decided to hire a tutor for him who should arrive soon, so please let him in when he arrives, okay?" After giving her mother a silent nod since her mouth was full her mother climbed the stairs to Tsuna's room. _A tutor? This better not be a scam or so help me I'll teach that person a lesson on trying to scam my family._

Luckily for her, Nadeshiko didn't have to relearn trigonometry, science, or English for school so her grades were straight A's. It also helped that she picked things up quickly so it didn't take her long to learn Japanese History.

Her brother, on the other hand, was a slacker. His lack of enthusiasm for learning anything apart from videogame codes and strategies was probably what led him to get the nickname Dame-Tsuna. It pissed her off whenever she heard anyone say that in her vicinity or when Tsuna himself would say it. He was a little clumsy and didn't get the best grades, but that didn't make him No Good.

While she'd tried helping him where she could with HW - the shock of learning long division from his little sister wore off whenever he remembered his sister had mystical flame powers which were even odder than knowing his schoolwork - his lack of discipline and extreme stubbornness on the idea that he'll always be the worst in class even if he tried killed any hope for memorizing more than the basics. She only hoped that he'd outgrow this stubborn streak of his so that he could be ready for high school, college, and adulthood.

Hearing the doorbell ring a few minutes after she left, Nadeshiko opened the door and saw no one outside. "Ciaossu!" Startled and looking down she wondered if the baby in the suit and fedora actually talked, "I'm the home tutor, Reborn." _Home tutor? This baby?_

Still shocked that this world included talking babies along with the colorful flames, Nadeshiko stepped aside to let the tiny tutor inside. "Good morning, Reborn…-san," _I guess I should still be polite since he's a tutor. Gosh, this is weird talking to a baby without baby language and cooing, _"Mama is waking up Tsu-nii right now and should be down in a moment." The baby coolly looked around and she wondered how it was possible for a baby in this world to act like an adult. "Sorry if this comes off a bit rude but…How old are you?"

"No worries, I'm 1 year old, Nadeshiko Sawada," he answered with a smirk that seemed to say 'I know something you don't'.

_How does he know my name? _Despite the feeling of being looked at by a predator, Nadeshiko still dared to reassure his identity, "And just to be sure you're not a scam, do you have the credentials to be a tutor for a middle schooler? High school diploma and such?" The odd baby smirked and pulled seemingly out of thin air some paper and added them to her. Glancing at the papers, they seemed legit though the company everything was organized by was called Vongola Corporation.

"Is this the same Vongola that has a bunch of construction sites around the world that Papa _supposedly _works traffic for?" She's seen the name a couple of times on papers he had lying around the house before he left to "become a star" when she was 9 years old. She knew that Tsuna, gullible as he was, thought their papa disappeared and probably died when their mama told them that. She could feel herself mentally roll her eyes. She should not have to explain the situation to Tsuna and Papa should have had the guts to tell us himself where he was going. _Stupid Papa just had to be all dramatic. Tsu-nii didn't even think about how Mama has been able to stay a housewife and yet have enough money for the house, food, clothes, and school. Papa truly hasn't been a good father and husband for leaving us with no explanation and lying about whatever his job is, because I know there's no way he should have to be so far from home for so long just to work traffic. _

"Yup!" Cue unnerving eye twinkle and another non-innocent smirk.

"Okay…" _sigh "…_whatever. Despite how shady I feel your employer is, seeing as how it's the same company our papa works for, I guess as long as you can help Tsu-nii then good luck," I finish with a smile not unlike Mama's. _I am so done with this._ _Talking mature babies is just a new level of what the fudge. Even though I was reincarnated, I was never this advanced at 12 months. _

"WAAH!" _And there goes Tsuna. _Nadeshiko winced with each step he hit falling down the stairs.

"Ciaossu! Are you Tsuna?" _That greeting of his is cute despite how odd it is coming out of a suit-wearing baby's mouth._ "I'll be instructing you from today on."

"Uh, what's with this baby?" Tsuna asked sitting down from his fall and leaning closer.

"Don't worry, Dame-Tsuna."

"Hey, how do you know my nickname?" Chagrined at being ridiculed by a little kid, Tsuna gaped at the odd baby.

"Gathering information is all part of the job, Tsuna." _Oh dear, Tsu-nii's going to do something he'll regret soon enough, _she thought as she saw a blush creeping up his neck.

"Stop calling me Tsuna! My name is Tsunayoshi Sawada! I don't want a baby like you calling me Tsuna!" Nadeshiko could tell Reborn was annoying him on purpose and Tsuna was letting himself get played by a toddler. After Tsuna got smacked with a kick for his failed chastisement, Nadeshiko knew there was no saving him from a sadistic tutor if Tsuna was going be so rude all the time. _Yes_, Reborn was a _baby_. But he didn't act like one so he shouldn't be treated as one if he chose to dress and act like an adult. Nadeshiko inwardly sighed. Sadly, you can't teach common sense. Her motto was to go with the flow most of the time and if she didn't want to then she'd make it flow the way she wants, so she'd see how Reborn does for now and act later.

"Oh, who might you be, little fella?" Nana inquired once she came downstairs.

"Mama, this is Tsu-nii's new home tutor, Reborn-san." Mama looked to her to be sure Nadeshiko wasn't joking as Reborn showed Tsuna his card. Tsuna burst out laughing and the next thing he knew, was ax kicked into the floor. She unsuccessfully held back her snicker of amusement.

"Tsu-nii, I'm pretty sure he's the real thing. I checked his credentials so he does have the ability to tutor you in your classwork," she eyed him pointedly, "Also, we're both going to be late if you don't hurry up." As Tsuna clambered to eat a quick breakfast and get dressed, Nadeshiko slipped on her matte black 1-inch heeled loafers and grabbed her lavender Randoseru bag.

Tsuna dashed out the door while Nadeshiko calmly left and both of them called out to their mother, "Ittekimasu!"

Thankfully Midori Elementary was close to Namimori Middle so the two could walk at least halfway to their respective schools together before splitting. Tsuna didn't seem to notice his hitchhiker and Nadeshiko wasn't about to spoil Reborn's fun as the tutor sat atop his head.

"Nade-chan, can you believe this?! What was with him?"

"Tsu-nii, don't judge a book by its cover. You can tell he's not like other babies," this time rolling her eyes at her brother and smirking at his obliviousness.

"Actually, I'm a hitman."

…

_WHAT?!_

…

The siblings abruptly stopped at the baby's words, eyes wide. Tsuna accidentally stepping on their neighbor's Chihuahua's tail. "Ugh!" Flinging back as the small unleashed dog pushed past the gate with a growl passing its snarling lips.

"Sorry, Rui. Tsuna didn't watch where he was going," she knelt and pet the upset pooch, "I know, I know, he's stupid sometimes but that's one of his charming points." She forgave Rui for biting her as a kid - it was only a puppy at the time and her juvenile emotions were uncontrollable then.

Tsuna made a shout of disagreement. "You're even worse than I heard. You're probably the only middle school student in the world who's scared of a Chihuahua," said the now dubbed baby hitman. Nadeshiko couldn't even disagree with him. Her brother was something special.

"Wow, he's cute!" exclaimed Kyoko Sasagawa, Namimori Middle School's idol and Tsuna's ultimate crush, as she approached the trio from around the bend.

"Ciaossu!" Reborn greeted.

Seeing a Midori Middle student approaching as well reminded Nadeshiko of getting to her own school on time. "Tsu-nii, I'm going to head on, okay? Don't be late!" she reminded as she jogged off after giving her brother a two-fingered salute. Her last thought being that she hoped Tsuna would one day get the courage to confess to his crush.

_I thought I heard Tsuna's voice for a second there?_

* * *

"How was your day, Tsu-nii?" Nadeshiko asked as she nibbled at her favorite chocolate Pocky for dessert in Tsuna's room. Reborn lounging by the bed.

He gave a great sigh, "Absolutely crazy you wouldn't believe me."

"Eh? What happened other than the usual?"

"That insane baby tutor is what happened?! As soon as you left, he shot me in the head!"

She gave him a skeptical look, "Seriously? But you're here right now, Tsuna. If he shot you, you'd be dead. Especially since he said he's a hitman, remember? Killing is in their forte." Though she did narrow her eyes at the innocent-looking killer.

"He shot me with something that's supposed to unleash my latent potential or something, then all my clothes - except for my boxers thankfully - disintegrated, _then_ I ran all over town practically naked, hit a truck at some point and came out unharmed, THEN ASKED KYOKO-CHAN TO GO OUT WITH ME _WHILE LOOKING LIKE A COMPLETE PERVERT_!"

"…anything else before I start asking questions?" He looked freaked out and was practically tearing out his hair.

"Then a senpai challenged me to a kendo duel-"

"That's stupid, you don't even know kendo.

"-to punish me for disrespecting Kyoko-chan like that!"

"How did that go?" Tsuna looked like he was in one piece. _Did he win?_

"I…won…" _No way! Awesome!_

"Wow! That's awesome, Tsu-nii!" she told him.

"I mean, Reborn shot me again so I was able to win," he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. Cheeks flushing red in embarrassment.

"Still Tsuna, you did it. With help, sure, but that's only natural since you've never fought before. This is the first time you didn't choose the easy way out. I've told you anything's possible if you just try your best," she gave him a smirk. She turned her attentions to the baby silently observing their discussion,

"Reborn-san, if you're a hitman why are you acting as my brother's tutor?"

"Tsuna's the only candidate to become the tenth-generation boss of the Vongola Family after some unforeseen circumstances."

"W-what?! The tenth-generation boss of the Vongola Family? Me?!" hollered Tsuna.

"Vongola Family?" Nadeshiko murmured as things started to connect for her.

"I've been hired by the boss of the Vongola Family, Vongola Ninth, to teach Tsuna how to become a strong Mafia boss," Reborn unrolled a scroll containing a simplified family tree. Tsuna's name in all caps and circled in red, "The founder of the Vongola Family retired and went to Japan. He was your great-great-great-grandfather. In other words, you're both official heirs of the Vongola Family's bloodline, but Tsuna is a better candidate," he informed the shocked siblings.

"W-We've never heard anything about this. Nade-chan and I want nothing to do with the mafia!"

"Don't worry. I'll teach you how to be a strong mafia boss." Somehow having gotten changed into his pink polka-dot pajamas without either sibling noticing.

"What are you talking about? And don't sleep in my bed!" _Poor Tsuna_, she thought as she gave him a pitying gaze.

"It's bedtime. See you tomorrow," Reborn tucked himself beneath Tsuna's comforter

"Oi! You -" he grumbled, aiming to throw the slumbering hitman out of his bed.

"Tsu-nii!" she dragged him back by the collar of his shirt.

"Eghk! Nade?! What are you-" She pushed his head down to see the grenade trip line trap Reborn had set up to keep Tsuna from disturbing his sleep.

"I forgot to tell you. If you disturb my sleep, the booby traps will blow up," And right then and there he fell asleep with his eyes still open.

"Come on Tsuna, let's leave him be. He won't respond to you anymore so there's no use yelling at him. Just sleep in the guest room for tonight. I'll help you set it up, just get the beddings from Mama." Guiding him out of his room she turned back for a moment, "Reborn-san, I have a couple of things to ask you in the morning when we're alone, so I'll wait till then. Sweet dreams!" Nodding her head in agreement to Tsuna's rambling about Reborn's double standards of acting like a baby when it pertains to sleep as they exited the room.

* * *

**REVIEW, please! It lets me know how you guys are taking the plot. What do you think so far?**

**Thanks for reading! Special thanks to all my followers and for those who even favorited my story! I'm excited y'all are liking it. I think I'm getting better and I'll try tweaking those first couple chapters in the future.**

**8/1/19**


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings**: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

**Enjoy the story!**

_Italicized words = _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**We'll be meeting some characters in this chapter!**

* * *

The morning after Reborn's entrance into their lives, Nadeshiko spoke to Reborn about the Vongola and even mentioned her and Tsuna's flames. To say the shrunken hitman was surprised was an understatement, even if Nadeshiko couldn't tell with his mask of calm and cool. Nadeshiko wondered if her father was part of the mafia, it being the reason why he'd been gone these past couple years, and Reborn confirmed it for her.

She was annoyed at her father for his complete disregard for their positions as relatives to a member of the mafia because they wouldn't even know the truth if he had died while he was away if it wasn't for Tsuna being a candidate and Reborn's presence.

She also asked him if he knew what her flames were and found out they were known as Mist, Cloud, and Sky flames. She figured her orange flames were Sky since Tsuna had the same flames, which meant she was also eligible for candidacy. However, Reborn explained that Tsuna was a pure Sky, making him the better candidate in addition to him being the elder sibling.

On a side note, his transforming lizard, Leon, was out of this world and just too adorable for her. When Reborn would take a nap without Leon needing to be his hammock, Leon would be on her shoulders as she read, did homework, and fed him some of her pocky.

It was the start of a marvelous relationship.

It's been a week since then and life's been interesting for her - not so much for Tsuna.

Instead of setting an alarm to wake up, she's been waking up to the sounds of explosions and Tsuna's screams thanks to Reborn's wonderful wake-up methods. Nadeshiko found out from Reborn that he arranged for Tsuna to play in his school's volleyball tournament and for him to meet a potential member of his family from Italy.

They had an agreement that she would be informed of most of his plans mostly so she wouldn't do things that went against them -intentionally or not. She was a Mist - sue her.

She hoped Reborn would be able to convince Tsuna to play. She knew he would always consider running away, but there were times in their childhood where he'd be a hero just for her. His eyes glowing orange while bravely standing in front of her when she was scared. Nadeshiko could see Tsuna being a just and kind boss to all his subordinates who wouldn't let his adversaries push him around. He wasn't physically or mentally strong right now, but he would do anything to help a someone in need no matter who they were.

He just needed a confidence boost to see his own potential. Even if that confidence boost was in the form of dying will bullets and a sadistic mini hitman.

* * *

**Couple of days later…**

Meeting Gokudera-san was…interesting. She never knew it was possible to see someone be so loyal that it looked like they had a wagging tail. Let alone be one of the people that tail wagged for.

_**Flashback**_

_**In the Sawada residence in Tsuna's bedroom...**_

"_Hime-sama, I am honored to meet you! I vowed to follow Judaime till my dying breath. He valiantly saved me so I will repay this debt with my own life and will one day die protecting Judaime. Hime-sama, my service shall extend to you, the Judaime's esteemed younger sister, and will protect you with my life if necessary! Your wish is my command." His eyes sparkling with determination._

_Nadeshiko decided to let it be but wished he wouldn't call her Hime-sama when she was younger than him and no one of real importance. _

_When mentioning her dislike of the title, he answered, "Hime-sama, I cannot speak to you so rudely! You, like Judaime, are deserving of respect!"_

"_Can't you at least call me Nadeshiko-san?"_

"_Judaimehime-sama"_

"_Nadeshiko-_san_"_

"_Nadeshiko-himesama"_

"_Nadeshiko-_SAN_"_

"_Nadeshiko-sama"_

"…"

"…"

"_Fine," She sighed fondly._

_**Flashback END**_

Nadeshiko found Gokudera endearing…once she got past his violent tendencies when others did things he found disrespectful to Tsuna or her and his inclination to start throwing bombs. Yamamoto-san was also an interesting addition to Tsuna's growing 'Family.' She was happy he was starting to make deeper friendships with his classmates because unlike her, he thrives with others around him.

She was content being an introvert and spending her time alone with a book or canvas. Don't get her wrong, Nadeshiko could be very sociable and in the spotlight, but preferred doing things at her own pace and at her own time.

* * *

BOOM!

….

_Tsuna got the math answer wrong again, huh. _She could feel herself sweat dropping at Reborn's ridiculous teaching methods. She was glad Reborn confirmed that Vongola paid for the damages when she asked him about the repairs.

She approached Tsuna's room hoping to save him from too much damage.

"Man…Why do I have to take lessons from a baby?" he groaned.

"Tsu-nii, I told you Reborn-san isn't a regular baby. Just accept it already and stop whining so you can focus on your work."

He grumbled and stared out the window. She knew he knew it was inevitable and he was just being stubborn again.

"What?! Wait! Oi, Reborn! There's something!" She watched as he pointed out the window at the odd little boy with a huge afro and cow onesie. _No way…he has a_ _missile launcher._ The boy fell as the tree's branch was unable to hold his and his weapon's weight.

Hearing the doorbell ring and the following steps up the stairs, she could tell where this would go next. Reborn still ignored the toddler's grabs for attention. She kneeled to his crying form and dragged him into her lap.

"Nice to meet you Lambo-kun! My name is Nadeshiko," She couldn't believe the mafia had 5-year old hitmen. _Children deserve childhoods no matter who they are_."Lambo-kun, do your parents or guardians know you're here chasing after your 'rival' Reborn-san?" she asked as she calmed him with soothing pats on the head

"Yes~, Lambo-san told his Bovino boss that Lambo-san wanted to kill his rival Reborn! Bovino boss gave Lambo-san permission and TONS of Bovino's inventions to kill him because Lambo-san is the strongest hitman EVER and will one day become boss of the Bovino!"

"Okay Lambo-kun, do you want to stay for dinner? You can tell me all about how you and Reborn-san became rivals, ne?"

"GahHAHaHA! The great Lambo-san accepts his new Nee-chan and subordinate and will stay for dinner!"

"Yes, yes," she said amused at the now cheerful child and stood up while hugging Lambo. She turned back to Tsuna and gave him a smirk and a two-finger salute, "So~ that means that subordinate-san should hurry up and finish his math homework so he can play with the future Bovino boss and his imouto. Have fun Tsu-nii!"

"That's right Dame Tsuna, let's get back to work. You have to memorize this formula and-"

"What? Nade, how you abandon your brother to this demo-Ow! Reborn! Hie~!"

"'What' is not the answer Dame-Tsuna." BOOM!

* * *

Life with the inclusion of Lambo made each day an adventure for Nadeshiko. She's always wondered what it'd be like to have a younger sibling. In her last life, she loved playing with her younger cousins at family parties and in her new life she was the little sister.

That night at dinner after Nana had left to deliver a pan she borrowed from their neighbors, Lambo had attempted to kill Reborn with a knife he somehow got his hands on. Nadeshiko wasn't worried for Reborn like Tsuna was because she figured that Reborn was strong enough to protect himself if he claimed to be the strongest hitman.

Lambo and Tsuna were alike in that a little tough love worked wonders to get them to learn things. Plus, Reborn somehow knew just how much damage a person could take seeing how Tsuna hasn't gotten severely injured or sent to the hospital despite all the bombs and electric shocks he's administered to him. That didn't stop her from worrying about the little boy against the number one hitman though.

After Reborn swatted the knife back Lambo fell off his seat beside Nadeshiko and sniffled, "Gotta…stay…calm…I CAN'T!"

Next thing they knew, Lambo pulled out a large purple bazooka out of his afro, jumped in, and shot it off before any of them could react. Pink smoke filled the room and a tall silhouette stood in the middle.

"Yare, yare, for crying out loud…It's been awhile young Vongola Juudaime, Nade-neechan," A young man with the same dark hair, green eyes, and cow print theme as Lambo gave the siblings the familiar two-finger salute Nadeshiko loved to use, "Thanks for helping me ten years ago. I'm Lambo Bovino." He had no horns like the child Lambo did, had one eye closed, wore a leather choker with a silver bull's head cage amulet containing a purple gem, and a cow print button-up and black blazer that showed his bare chest and lower abdomen.

"W-What?!" exclaimed Tsuna. Nadeshiko was stunned that time travel actually existed here, but she should have figured with the existence of magical flames and mature babies.

"Anyone shot by the Ten-Year Bazooka will switch places with his ten-years-older self…but only for five minutes," Older Lambo explained.

"No way! This sharp-looking guy is the same Lambo?!"

"I mean, he does look a lot like Lambo-kun," she pointed out, "Lambo-kun you're fifteen now, right, since our Lambo is only five?"

He gave her a nod as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand lazily.

"Then can you explain why _exactly_ you think it's appropriate to not button up enough to cover your chest?" He made a choking sound and began to pale as her usual smile became sharper and dark aura spread around the short blonde, "There's no way _my_ older self would ever let you walk out like that…unless, of course, you were about to go on a date and are trying to impress someone?" she finished quickly, tapping a finger against her chin and narrowing her eyes at the mature-looking teen with a smirk on her lips.

"Eghk, Nee-chan, you've always been so observant of this stuff. It's nice to be reminded of how well you'll treat the younger me," he smiled in nostalgia then turned to Reborn, "Yo, Reborn. Didn't recognize me, did you? But I'm Lambo, the guy you used to ignore."

The siblings turned to Reborn and deadpanned. The hitman was still ignoring the Bovino teen. Lambo's eye began to twitch in irritation until he reassumed his cool-headed persona.

"Yare, yare. I guess I'll have to resort to brute force. I'll show you how much ten years has changed me." Lambo took out his missing horns from his pant pocket and used his Thunder Set _Electrico Cornada _to charge at Reborn, "DIE, REBORN!"

His revenge was futile as Leon transformed into a cane and Reborn smacked him to the ground.

…

"Gotta…stay…calm…NEE-CHAN!" he wailed and dove for Nadeshiko. Holding her around the waist as she pat his head like she had just done to his younger self a couple of hours ago. _Ten years hasn't changed him at all_, she thought as comforted the upset teenage hitman.

* * *

**One week later…**

Nadeshiko was looking forward to visiting her brother at school. Like Namimori Middle, Midori Elementary had a Home Ec class where students were cooking cakes today. The difference for them was that the elementary students were given the option to bring their cakes home during their lunch break. She was still in awe of how long the lunch break is in Japan compared to the schools in America. She had made many mini cakes and after dropping off a few at home she traveled toward Namimori Middle with the rest of them.

In her last life, Nadeshiko enjoyed cooking and baking, mostly because she loved eating her confectionaries afterward. Her experience carried on to her current life and she was able to make a professional worthy green tea sponge cake with sakura flavored whipped cream. She had asked beforehand for her mother to get her the matcha powder and sakura paste needed to make the cake. And finished it off by sprinkling powdered dried strawberries over a stencil that left the shape of cherry blossoms on the top of the cakes.

To say she was proud was an understatement.

Approaching the front gate of the school, she noticed Namimori's resident demon.

Her and Hibari had always had an odd relationship in her opinion. They'd usually see each other in passing when she was heading home from the nearby dojo – she had practiced karate and judo in her last life and didn't want to lose those skills, plus it kept her fit and able to eat whatever she wanted – but met when they were younger on the first day she decided to practice flying with her Mist wings.

_**Flashback**_

_When Tsuna was eight years old, and she five, he had to get surgery for a bean he had gotten stuck in his nose, so while Nana was supporting Tsuna at the hospital Nadeshiko snuck away from her father, who was taking a nap, to practice with her flame wings at a nearby playground. Since discovering them when she was two, she was capable of jumping up really high with their support and could come down _relatively_ safely._

_This time, however, she wanted to be able to move around like an actual bird. Or an angel. Either were cool. She'd be like Konan with her paper wings or that Star Village woman from Naruto who could make chakra wings. She was so excited!_

_When she located a secluded area from the rest of the playground that was blocked by trees, she concentrated on that warm feeling she'd always felt to generate her wings. Giving a tentative flap a few times, she readied herself for liftoff and eyed watching birds with determination. _

I can do it! It shouldn't be that hard. Just gotta glide and flap... and hope I don't crash into anything. _She squatted slightly and jumped up into the air. Hovering in place a few feet from the ground. _

"_So far, so good. I'm at least staying up in the air. Let's take it up a notch." She climbed a few more feet higher._

"_Okay, it's working…Now to actually move in other directions," she mumbled. _

_Currently at about 10 feet from the ground, Nadeshiko didn't realize how much stronger the wind was and an unexpected gust made her lose control of her position. Her wings, unaccustomed to maneuvers that'd recalibrate her, flapped uselessly as she plummeted to the ground like a baby bird from its nest. _

This was not part of the plan!_ She plummeted to another area from the breeze pushing her in a random direction. Next thing she knew - and after a lot of bumps, crashes, and yelps - she was laying on top of a young boy with dark raven hair and glaring steel-gray eyes. _

"_Sorry! I lost control for a second and ended up falling on you, are you okay?" she asked the silent boy who stopped scowling once he noticed her purple-flamed wings as she sat up on his stomach. _He looks about Tsu-nii's age…maybe a couple of years older?

"_Wow, what is that?" He hadn't asked her to get off him yet because she didn't weigh much to him and didn't feel the urge to separate himself from her like he often did with others. He was also more interested in her wings and had a hard time moving his gaze from the construction. _

"_Ano...I made them? I don't know what they are exactly, but I know how to make the wings now! I just wanted to try flying in other directions but up," she pouted as her cheeks grew red with embarrassment from her plummet, "…but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to." She dipped her head to her chest in hopes of hiding her blushing cheeks._

"_Hn, get off me _Mashiko_ (rose finch)," the nickname came to him after seeing her reddening face and rose-patterned shirt. _

"_Ah! Sorry!" As she scrambled to get off, the boy observed her and her glowing lavender wings intently. _

"_Do you want to touch them?" she inquired slowly, knowing how much Tsuna wanted to touch them the first time they manifested and how much he enjoyed the feel of her wings once she was able to keep them from disappearing. The boy's eyes widened slightly in shock before he quickly composed himself - as much as a child could at least - and nodded silently. _

_She turned around and spread out her wings comfortably, the tips of them reaching the back of her knees and curling at the ends. She heard his tentative steps on the grass as he approached her then felt the lightest touch on her right wing. _

_He was careful with his brushing. Humming slightly in awe when the flames that covered the girl's wings didn't burn him. _

"_Ne, what's your name?" she asked, "My name's Nadeshiko Sawada."_

"_Hn, Kyoya Hibari, _Mashiko_."_

_**Flashback End**_

"Afternoon, _Hibari_-san!" she greeted.

"Hn, _Mashiko_, why are you on Nami Middle grounds?"

She didn't mind the fifteen-year old's childhood nickname for her but felt the need to retaliate by calling him 'Lark-san' whenever they spoke to each other. She's only called him Kyoya when she needed his attention for something more important than teaching some thugs a lesson for breaking Namimori school rules.

"Technically, I'm not on the school grounds until I step past the gate. But anyway, I'm here to deliver some cakes I made in Home Ec today for you, Tsuna, and his friends. I thought you'd all like it for your desserts."

His steel eyes stared directly into her amber eyes then directed his gaze to the cake box and back to her again.

Understanding his silent message, she opened the box and handed him a plate of one of her cakes and a fork. "Thanks, _Hibari_-san! I hope you enjoy the cake! See you later!" She bid him a confident farewell knowing she was granted safe entry into the school.

* * *

**A few minutes later…**

"I can't believe you ate everyone's cakes Tsu-nii. That's pretty rude, ya know? It doesn't matter if it's to confess to your crush."

"Nade!" he denied, "I didn't mean to. Bianchi, Gokudera-kun's sister who has this poison cooking ability, switched Kyoko-chan's cake with one of her poison ones. And Reborn shot me again with the bullets, so I had no choice in this situation!"

"Uhuh, _sure_ Nii-san," she deadpanned.

"And _also_, Nade, how'd you get into the school?"

"What do you mean _how_? Hibari-san let me in through the front gate."

"Oh, okay…What?!"

* * *

**Review, please! Got any questions? Btw, depending on the question, I may not answer in order to prevent spoiling the story for you.**

**Hibari is my fave and I love when OCs get paired with him. I hope I do the pairing justice! I also wanted Nadeshiko to be Lambo's tie to the Vongola compared to having it be Nana. She will be a very important figure for the children joining the family (Lambo, I-pin and Fuuta) since I don't have her interacting with the main plots just yet. **

**I'm also thinking of writing some side stories on when Tsuna was brave for her and Hibari's POV of their meeting. What do you think?**

**Thanks for reading! Special thanks to all my followers and for those who even favorited my story!**

**Special special thanks to **_**merendinoemiliano**_** for reviewing so much! Thanks a bunches!**

**1/7/20**


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings**: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

**Enjoy the story!**

_Italicized words = _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**Some side stories I was thinking of adding were Tsuna's thoughts on the relationship between Hibari and Nade and their nicknames for each other. Oh, yeah, I can't remember if I mentioned it in the last chapter, but **_**Mashiko**_** is the Japanese name for a **_**rose finch.**_** I may not be completely right, but at some point when I looked up red birds in Japanese I came across that name. Cue rose themes. **

**Anyway, let's meet some more characters!**

* * *

Apparently, Gokudera's sister was now living with them in order to help tutor Tsuna, teach her along with Tsuna about poison, and to stay close to Reborn. Nadeshiko was extremely confused with how Bianchi, a teenager, was in a relationship with Reborn. _It's still considered pedophilia right?_ Nothing made much sense to her nowadays, but she just ran with it.

She did pity Gokudera each time he passed out from seeing his sister because of his childhood trauma of eating her poison cooking for his piano recitals though. She wondered how well Gokudera played piano since she used to play in her last life (mostly classical music), but hadn't really taken it up again in her current one.

She was still angry at Bianchi for poisoning Lambo's 10-year older self when she mistook him for her ex-boyfriend Romeo. However, she accepted the fact that Bianchi was part of their family now and would stick around for a _long_ time.

* * *

Nadeshiko and Tsuna were walking to school together with Reborn walking on top of the wall of the neighbor's yard when a brunette appeared before the trio…also walking on the fence.

"Hello! My name is Haru Miura," the strange girl introduced herself to just Reborn. Her legs were beginning to wobble for balance. From her yellow sweater vest and blue ribbon, Nadeshiko could tell the odd girl went to Midori Middle.

"I know. You often tag along when we are going to school," Reborn replied, "What do you want today?"

Nade whispered to Tsuna who was confused about the whole situation, "Why the heck did she decide walking on the wall was a good idea? She's not even wearing shorts underneath from what I can tell. Her underwear could be seen if the wind blows!" She stared at the odd girl in disbelief.

"Who cares about that?! Reborn says she's been following us?!" He whispered in reply.

The girl, Haru, looked like the happiest girl alive when Reborn said he knew her. She leaned forward to get closer to Reborn's height, "Ano, would you be my friend?"

_That's all she wanted?!_ Nadeshiko thought as she and Tsuna watched her flip of the wall in happiness to Reborn's acceptance of her friendship.

"Ano, I know this is out of the blue, but would you let me hug you?" the brunette asked while squeezing her arms across her chest.

_Pedophile...she's a freaking pedophile. _Nadeshiko deadpanned._ Who the heck asks some random kid if they can hug them? God, she sounds like she'd orgasm once she did_. _Can't say much about Bianchi though I think she's almost worse than Bianchi, and _Bianchi_ was willing to kill Tsuna to _free _Reborn. _Thoroughly freaked out from the situation, she missed Reborn's refusal but heard when Reborn said 'hitman' and saw as the brunette was about to slap Tsuna.

She intercepted the slap by grabbing the girl's wrist, "Oi, Miura-san, you have absolutely no reason to assault my brother so what makes you think it's alright for you to just slap an innocent?" she demanded slightly squeezing the wrist as she threw it back to the shocked girl.

"He's despicable! He's obviously been teaching this baby bad things!" she defended heatedly. Tsuna was still in confusion. All he knew was that when he tried to tell Reborn that saying he's a hitman wasn't something he should do; his sister was right in front of him holding the wrist of the strange girl.

"Babies are angels with totally pure hearts! If you're allowing him to destroy that young and pure innocence with his rotten heart then you're just as bad," she said stepping forward as if to get to Tsuna - Nadeshiko still blocking her way.

Before she could reply, a familiar laugh rang above them, "Wahahaha! Lambo-san's here to save the day! Reborn! Prepare yourself!" he yelled as he swung down on a rope and pulled out two of his pink grenades.

"Ah! Lambo don't -" Nade tried to warn him, but she was too late. Because he used both hands, he had no grip on the rope and fell before them. Nadeshiko rushed to his side and was about to pick up the sniffling child when the rude brunette snatched him into her arms.

"Oh my, are you okay little boy?" the girl asked. Seeing her now occupied with Lambo, she shooed Tsuna away to get to school as she handled the strange girl. Not looking forward to staying around, he hurried away hoping Nade will be able to handle the crazy girl.

"Ah! He's kinda cute!" Haru squealed as she squeezed Lambo into an uncomfortable and suffocating hug. Next thing Haru knew, the boy was being smoothly taken out of her grip and into the annoyed amber-eyed girl's arms.

Lambo was just thankful to be back in his Nee-chan's arms because Nade-neechan gave the best hugs in his opinion. And his opinion was always right!

"Look, Miura-san. No offense, but I _really_ don't like you right now. You tried to hit my brother for no reason other than some wild notion you cooked up from your imagination that it's his fault when it's _not_."

"Babies are angels and teenage boys are devils! Of course, it's his fault!" Haru defended.

"Miura-san, my brother is probably the most angelic teenage boy out there. I'd appreciate it if you didn't just judge someone before getting to know them," Amber eyes glared at the dense girl, "Plus, Reborn isn't even a real baby." _At least, he _probably_ isn't a real baby. No way that's normal no matter what Reborn says about being one year old. He's basically an adult despite his_ looks._ He even drinks coffee._

"Eh?! Not a baby?!"

"No, he's a friend of our family who has this disease where the older he gets the younger he looks. So, since he's a baby he's at least 50 years old." Nade remembered the movie Benjamin Button from her last life, though she never actually watched it, she knew what it was about for the most part.

"Fifty?!" The brunette looked like her soul left her body to Nadeshiko.

"Uhuh! So now that that's all cleared up, please stop stalking him and us. Bye, Miura-san!" she said as she left the shocked girl to head to school herself.

"Thanks, Lambo-kun, for saving us back there, but you have to get back home to Mama, okay?" she said to the little boy in her arms.

"Gyahaha! Of course, Nee-chan, that's because Lambo-san is awesome! Lambo-san will go back to Mama because Lambo-san is a good boy!" He jumped out of her arms and began to run home, "Nee-chan has to play with Lambo-san when she gets back!" he demanded with a pout.

"Yes, yes, Lambo-kun! See you when I get back from school! Be good for Mama!"

* * *

She really is in awe of the situations Tsuna gets himself in. While she was in the dojo, Tsuna said he ran into Haru on the bridge and now has an admirer since he saved her from drowning. She thanked whatever gods were out there that she wasn't Tsuna. No way would she ever want a creepy stalker like Miura-san.

After Tsuna had his breakfast stolen from Reborn (not like it's the first time it's happened), they left for school. Though not before Reborn informed them that there is an assassin from Hong Kong, known as the Human Bomb called I-Pin. The name reminded her of that Chinese action movie Ip-Man she watched in her Before life.

"Why did it turn out this way, Nade?" Tsuna groaned, "I wish I could be a guy with supernatural powers, instead of a Mafioso, like you Nade. I'd fly to school in a flash."

She handed him a piece of the bread she was eating, "That's life Tsu-nii. Though we do have dying will flames so that can be considered your superpower once you learn how to harness it." The two noticed a Chinese food stand down the road, "Oooh, Nii-chan, look, there are steamed buns!"

She dragged him over and ordered a couple, sparing a quick glance at the child who jumped off the stool and jogged away.

Continuing their walk to school, the siblings ate their steamed buns and relished in its taste. The two paused at Rui's barking.

"He probably wants a taste," she murmured and dejectedly answered the yapping chihuahua, "Sorry, Rui, I don't think we can give you some. Takara-baasan won't be happy with us for feeding you without her permission."

Tsuna, on the other hand, had a smug grin on his face as gloated, "I won't give it to you! This is my breakfast you know."

And, of course, due to Tsuna's _wonderful_ luck, Takara-obaasan just had to be dog-sitting her son's Doberman Pinscher. As the much more intimidating dog pushed open the gate, the child Nadeshiko remembered was sitting at the food stand ran in front of them and assumed a martial arts stance.

The kid looked about the same age as Lambo and wore a traditional Chinese cheongsam-style shirt over black pants. Nadeshiko couldn't tell if the kid was a girl or a boy even with the braid since she knew men also sometimes kept their hair long and braided in Chinese culture, and decided to ask as soon as possible to refrain from possibly insulting the martial artist. They watched as the child somehow lifted the dog into the air, gently placed it back in the yard, and locked the gate.

"W-Wow. What's going on?" Tsuna asked, looking shocked at the turn of events, "He didn't even touch him."

"I have no idea, but thanks for helping us, kid." She had taken a Chinese language course in high school in her last life but hadn't learned much because the teachers kept changing. It made it hard to advance in the language if each teacher was trying to make sure we knew the basics. She could only remember a few simple words and phrases but wasn't taught how to properly pronounce most of them.

"Ano, yeah. Thank you for saving us."

The child's face scrunched up as he looked at them then bowed respectively. He didn't look annoyed, so she wondered if it was because he didn't understand them. Before the little martial artist left Nadeshiko crouched down and asked, "Ne, _haizi_, _ni jiao shenme mingzi he ni shi nuhai haishi nanhai? (_Kid, what's your name and are you a girl or a boy?_)_" She hoped her Chinese at least sounded better now that she knew how to speak Japanese.

The martial artist seemed to pause and stared at her. "_Wo jiao I-pin, wo shi nuhai, xiaojie,_ (My name is I-pin, I am a girl, Miss,)_" _the now dubbed girl answered. Her face scrunched up again.

_Wow, I really couldn't tell the kid was a girl. She'll definitely mature into herself when she grows up. And she's the assassin Reborn warned us about? She's only a kid._

"_Duibuqi, meimei. Xiexie ni bangzhu wo gege he wo. (_Sorry, little sister. Thank you for helping my brother and I.)_"_

"_Bu keqi, xiaojie. (You're welcome, Miss)_"

"You can call me _jiejie _if you want," she told the girl who looked happy to have had their small conversation in her native language. She really wished she could speak more, but her vocabulary was so limited, "Is there any way I can help you with anything to thank you for helping us?"

Tsuna had no idea where Nade had picked up Chinese and was completely lost as he watched his sister chat with the boy who saved them until she switched back to Japanese.

The martial artist, looked down in thought, her eyebrows furrowing and seemed to decide something as she reached into her pocket and handed it to Nadeshiko. She looked at the photo in her hands, "I don't know who he is, sorry."

The tiny assassin frowned and put the photo back in her pocket when Nadeshiko handed it back to her. She bowed again and ran off.

"Nade, when did you pick up Chinese and who was he?"

"Ah, she's a girl Tsu-nii. In fact, she's the assassin Reborn warned us about, I-pin the Human Bomb," she said, purposely avoiding his first question. Her brother didn't notice, too focused on the fact that the kid was an assassin. She did wonder why she was called a 'human bomb'.

"Eh?! She's an assassin?!"

"Yeah, but neither of us are her target so we _should_ be fine. I hope she stays safe. She looks like she's Lambo's age." She got up from her crouched position with a contemplative look on her face.

"I'm gonna head to school now Nii-chan. Don't be late!" She said, giving him a two-fingered salute and running to Midori Elementary.

* * *

When Tsuna got back from school he told her about how I-Pin mistook him for her target and tried to kill him with her Gyoza Fist and almost killed everyone with her Minzu Time Bomb. To Nadeshiko, the fact that I-Pin latched on to others for comfort when the bomb is activated is both funny and terrifying. I-Pin decided to stay in Japan to train so Nadeshiko invited her to stay at their house if she had nowhere to stay. I-Pin had given her a huge hug and an endearing smile in thanks.

Her and Lambo seemed to have a tentative friendship started. I-Pin's more respectful and strict attitude paired well with Lambo's free-spirited troublemaking. She knew they'd be best buddies in time because opposites attract. You couldn't find another pair of children who were more different yet still loved playing games with the other.

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Critics? Predictions? Then REVIEW! **

**Thanks to those who have reviewed recently! It makes me excited to know what you think!**

**Just saying, I don't really like Haru but she's in Canon a lot so I'll see how I put her in my story. The next chapters include some other introductions to characters and I've been trying to figure out how I want Dino and Nadeshiko's relationship to be since I want Nade to only want ONE older brother which is Tsuna and refuse to call him Dino-nii. Maybe she can tease him since she doesn't really tease Tsuna? And then I think of Dino who trains Hibari later and I'm like maybe they should have a close relationship and text each other a bunch. We'll see. I'll post the next chapter in a couple of days. Maybe 2-3 chapters until Kokuyo. **

**Thanks for reading! Special thanks to all my followers and for those who even favorited my story! 3 3 3 I'm so excited every time I see a change in my story's status ;P**

**1/7/20**


	7. Chapter 7

**Warnings**: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

**Enjoy the story!**

_Italicized words = _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**I really want to get to Kokuyo already (_). I've already planned some Future scenes and I love them so much! I think I'll skip Mafia land and some other events to get to Kokuyo and Varia faster. **

**And I'll be honest...I've been reading other fanfics rather than writing mine so it was taking a while to tear myself away from my favorite stories (^.^'). Sorry sorry, but this probably means I'll try updating every 1-2 weeks instead, as I approach the events in these upcoming chapters. At least I made it a **_**really**_** long chapter, right? Plus, for some reason, my Crunchyroll account wasn't playing the episodes for a while so I had to use the manga which I am least familiar with to remember these scenes. Thankfully it's working again so I included aspects of both versions into the scenes. **

**Onto the story!**

**p.s. it was mentioned that they were 2 years apart in the beginning, but in this chapter, we see that Nade is 10 and Tsuna is 14. so they're NOW 3 1/2 years apart. Her bday will be in April. My sibling and I are 2 1/2 years apart and have ages 3 years apart so I think this'll help. I changed the 2nd chapter to her being 2 and Tsuna being 5. ****Sorry for the confusion! **

* * *

_Cough, cough. Ugh, I hate being sick. _

Nadeshiko woke up that morning with a throbbing headache and a sore throat. Nana had taken one look at her when she trudged downstairs for breakfast and sent her daughter right back to bed.

She tried to avoid getting sick after the last time when she was eight. Let's just say Mist and sick didn't go together and Nadeshiko was lucky her kaa-chan never noticed her sprouting wings and spewing feathers each time she sneezed last time. However, this time may have been better or worse depending on how she looked at it. Instead of visible wings and conjured feathers, she had a ridiculously depressing orchestra playing in the background. The name of the song..._Sadness and Sorrow_. Yup. From Naruto. Thankfully she was able to play it off as coming from her phone to her kaa-chan. She was both amused and annoyed by the utterly mournful music that continued to follow her everywhere.

Tsuna had already left for school when she decided to take a bath to get rid of the gross feelings of sweat and sickness. Her theme music following her on her treck to the bathroom. After the shower she was feeling moderately better - the music now playing at a low enough level it was barely noticeable - and walked downstairs to escape the confines of her room.

She looked up as she heard the clicking of the front door open. "Eh? Tsu-nii? What are you doing home?" her through causing her voice to come out a bit raspy. Her brother was almost as pale as she was when she was sure her brother was completely fine when he left the house. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Nade. Reborn is just trying to freak me out with this _incurable disease_ he says I got because I've shot by ten dying-will bullets." Scoffing, he held his right palm toward me to show me what appeared to be a skull with a black flame making up its top portion and white teeth. He walked toward the kitchen sink, "I'm sure it'll wash off with some water."

**Seconds later...**

"What the hell?!" She joined her sibling in the kitchen and watched as he futilely wiped at the macabre tattoo.

"_So embarrassing! I never got a 100 on my test!" _uttered a ghoulish voice._ The heck?_ The sick Mist user eyed her brother's hand curiously. _He's never scored a 100 before, but he has gotten a 90. That's not too bad._

"The Skull Disease is a strange illness where skulls appear on your body and tell embarrassing secrets until you finally die. Otherwise known as the 'Embarrassing-Yourself-Before-Death Disease.' By the way, the Skull Disease will cause you to die in two hours after it first appears," informed Reborn - looking nonchalant in the face of the death of his ward.

"Reborn-san, This is serious! If Tsu-nii is sick he needs help quick!" she croaked. Her continued background music increasing in volume in her distress and exacerbating her headache. _That baby better have a plan for this. _She rubbed her temple with her fingers and closed her eyes as the pounding of her headache continued with Tsuna's shrieks. A few coughs escaping her as she tried taking in calming breaths. A part of her incredibly worried for her ailing brother, but hoping Reborn knew what to do.

"No way! I don't want to die yet! I can already hear my funeral music," Tsuna wailed. _No Nii-chan, that's just me._ "Even worse, I don't want to die with my shame being spoken about even after I'm dead! _Help me, Reborn_!" He fell to his knees pleaded to the undisturbed hitman.

"I can't do anything." Tsuna's soul seemed to leave his body at that point. "There is actually one way for you to be saved though. I know a doctor who is really good at handling incurable diseases. I already called him over to help treat Nadeshiko, but maybe something can be done for you as well if I ask."

Nadeshiko plopped herself at the table and laid her head in her arms. She mentally grumbled that the brat knew this was going to happen to Tsuna. He was probably laughing at Tsuna's reaction behind his usual smile. "Why didn't you say that earlier?! Hurry up and ask him! Where is he?!"

The hitman hummed to himself. "With an attitude like that, I don't want to." Her gullible brother began pleading and agreeing to Reborn's demands on scoring within the top 10 for his next test. She knew Reborn was going to take full advantage of Tsuna's flustered and desperate self.

"DIE!" Nadeshiko's head sprung up - _Ouch_ \- at what she could tell was Bianchi's shout and the sound of someone falling down the stairs. She's heard it enough times from Tsuna that she'd recognize the sound anywhere. The siblings reentered the entrance hallway and found a brown-haired middle-aged man in a white suit with a black button-up and purple tie collapsed at the bottom of the stairs with Bianchi's poison cooking covering his face.

"Bianchi! You! Don't kill people in my house!" Tsuna cried.

"Such a tomboy as usual. Girls should be like that~." The collapsed man removed the cloth separating the poison cooking from his face and. "Now I like you even more!" Next thing Nadeshiko knew, the pervert was smashed into the wall with a well-placed kick to the face courtesy of the poison mistress.

"Reborn...Is that the doctor you were talking about?" she asked as they watched the man recover only to get knocked back with more kicks and poison attacks.

"Yes, he's the doctor I was talking about. I called him over from Italy - Dr. Shamal." He turned to the - supposed - doctor, "Shamal, Tsuna here has the Skull Disease."

The man hummed. He took one look at Tsuna and held a hand up as if to stop Tsuna from getting any closer. "Sorry, but I don't examine guys."

"Wha?! No way?!" Tsuna yelled in disbelief. She spotted Bianchi silently smiling to herself behind her hand, no doubt happy for a chance to _free_ Reborn.

"Now this little lady, I would not mind treating." Next thing she knew the perverted doctor was crouched in front of her with what he must have considered a sultry smile. "That was what Reborn called me over for. Now how can I help you, cutie? I'll be sure to give you a kiss afterward."

"I'm ten years old..._way_ too young for you Shamal-sensei," she deadpanned, her eyebrow beginning to twitch in exasperation. "Can you please just treat my Nii-chan first?" She began to pity her brother as more and more skulls were appearing and moaning about how he'd skipped school on days they'd get shots, was scared of moths, and other secrets that weren't even secrets for Nadeshiko since she knew most of them being his little sister.

"Eh, I've examined a million patients, but none of them were guys. No exceptions, either. Not before, not now, not ever." He turned to her brother, "Give it up. You're going to die soon anyway." Pretty fed up with with the unbelievably stubborn doctor, her agitated flames conjured a thorny vine to appear on the floor which whipped toward him.

Expecting the attack to land, she was surprised when the construct dissolved with one look from the doctor. "Well, well. Hime-chan here has a bite just like the lovely Bianchi-chan." He got uncomfortably closer to the exhausted Nadeshiko who was still shocked at the condition of her Mist flames. _What happened? What did he do?_

"Hey, you! Please, don't get so close to my imouto!" Tsuna placed himself between the perverted doctor and his currently stunned imouto - ready to fight off the creep if he kept trying to harass his little sister.

"_Kyoko-chan is the first girl I've spoken to other than my little sister, Nadeshiko. 2 months ago._" confessed the latest skull located on the back of his neck. Tsuna, her poor brother whose determination was snuffed out by embarrassment, fell to floor hugging his knees as his greatest secret was revealed.

"Geez, Tsuna, You're a loser with no guts," Reborn reproached him.

Shamal - who was silent while he examined Nadeshiko after her bout of Mist flames - sighed and said, "Fine, fine, I'll cure you first since there's no time left." It was obvious he was reluctant to help the male but took out a small box containing rows of pills.

After explaining his situation of having 666 incurable diseases - because of his body's natural ability to contract diseases - which cancels each other out, took out one pill containing a mosquito with the Angel Disease - opposite of the Skull Disease. Reborn and Shamal explained his use of mosquitos and his other work as the hitman "Trident Shamal."

"Your illness is cured," he told Tsuna. He turned toward her. "Unfortunately, I can't treat your cold with my mosquitos but -" he tapped a finger on her nose. Instantly, her headache receded and her throat cleared up. "I can at least alleviate your symptoms temporarily. I recommend you rest for the rest of the day to let the last of your cold disappear. Enjoy the rest of your lives."

She nodded at his advice and the two thanked him for his help. Her thanks coming off a more subdued from her still stunned state. She was curious about how he stopped her Mist construction and relieved her cold symptoms. "But why did you suddenly decide to cure me?" Tsuna asked - still curious after the vehement denial he got just a few minutes ago.

"Well, I felt sorry for you. You've never spoken to a girl other than this little miss until you met a certain Kyoko-chan, huh? That's so pathetic."

"Leave me alone!" Tsuna yelled.

"It's okay, Tsu-nii. Just ignore him. You're better and that's all that matters." She patted her brother's back as he bristled at the pitying expression the doctor eyed at him with.

"Plus, Hime-chan here was willing to attack me for her darling Nii-chan. I couldn't just ignore that devotion." Nadeshiko felt like there was more to that statement, but decided to leave that for another day. Now that Tsuna was cured, she just wanted to follow Dr. Shamal's advice and sleep the rest of the day. Giving the man one last look that said she didn't believe a word he said, Nadeshiko wished Tsuna good night - "It's still morning, Nade." - and returned to her bed - thankful she no longer had her unwanted background music playing for the rest of the day.

* * *

**Days later...**

"Welcome back, Sawada Tsunayoshi-dono, Sawada Nadeshiko-hime."

Tsuna and she returned to their house surrounded by intimidating foreigners in suits. _Reborn didn't warn me about anything happening today. Does this mean I'm also getting tested by Reborn today? He's supposed to warn me of these things, _she thought, vexed that she wasn't able to determine the hitman's plans for today but preventing herself from showing said vexation.

The men parted to allow the Sawada siblings to enter their house. Tsuna displayed a small frown as his gaze moved between the men lining the sides of the road who were obviously related to the Mafia, worried for the safety of his sister as she confidently - recklessly - walked on with her customary smile on her face. Nonetheless, he followed her closely and kept an eye on her as she no doubt was hiding her discomfort better than he ever could.

"Welcome home, Tsu-kun, Nade-chan. We have guests." Her mama looked excited today so hopefully whoever Reborn invited was alright. _Hopefully. _She followed Tsuna to his room to see who these _guests_ were.

"Reborn! What did you do this time?!" Unsurprisingly, two more men in suits stood in the middle of the room. "Waah! They're in my room too! What's going on here?" Leaning around her Nii-chan, she spotted a large black leather swivel chair turned towards the window.

"We've been waiting for you, Tsuna, Nade," said Reborn.

"'Sup, Vongola boss. I've come all the way from Italy to see you." The man dramatically turned the chair around. His piercing brown eyes locked on to her brother. "I'm the tenth-generation boss of the Cavallone Family, Dino."

_Cavallone? _"Mafia?!" The young boss stood up from his chair after letting out a laugh and approached the siblings. Nadeshiko admired his fashion as he neared. His light olive green trenchcoat lined with black fur on the hood over a black t-shirt and paired with a darker green cargo pant fit the blonde-haired man well. It certainly made him look cool. But she knew there was always something different about Reborn's guests that she took his cool appearance with a grain of salt.

He looked down his nose at her brother with his hands in his pockets, "You don't have the aura. Ain't got the look. No ambition or aspirations either."

"Plus, he has short legs. He has no money. And he has no power," Reborn added unnecessarily.

"Doesn't seem like he's got much luck either. He has none of the attributes of a boss." The man's henchmen laughed at the insults being hurled at her brother and Nadeshiko wasn't happy. She moved out from behind her brother and stood directly in front of the smirking boss. She gave no warning other than a closed eye smile worthy of an angel - _pff -_ and kicked the 22-year-old's shin. If she added some of her cloud flames to her foot to give it that extra oomph, well that sucked infinitely more for him.

He jumped back with a hiss, clutching his shin in pain. His men were no longer laughing and moved forward to either grab their boss or her, and she wasn't taking the risk they'd reach for her. She glared at the two mafioso stopping them in their tracks - her eyes glowing with the light of her Cloud flames. "Reborn, who are these people to judge Tsu-nii?" she questioned the startled - not that she or anyone could tell - hitman.

Meanwhile, Tsuna's eyes also began to glow orange with his Sky flames which reached out to Nadeshiko's agitated Flames the moment the mafia boss's men moved.

"Dino...is Tsuna's senior apprentice," he informed them, the words slowly leaving his mouth. He hadn't expected the usually serene Nadeshiko to immediately retaliate physically. The hitman had forgotten her third flame, her Cloud flame, since she displayed her Mist personality most days. He wondered if it was due to the encroachment of another Sky in what she deemed her 'territory'. He expected her to either wait and see what would happen next or create some illusions like she usually did when annoyed. However, the young blonde regarded the other with a cold smile.

She wasn't sure herself why she reacted the way she did, but for some reason, the Cavallone boss's presence annoyed her. Now that she knew his relationship to Reborn and Tsuna she knew she had to at least apologize for kicking him.

"Oh, I'm sorry Cavallone-san, please excuse my behavior. I just disagreed with your unsubstantial assessment of my Nii-chan," she said - still with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

The boss returned to his seat on the chair with a chagrined look on his face. "No, no, I'm sorry Nadeshiko-chan if my words upset you." He turned toward her brother. "Don't let what I said get you down, Vongola judaime. Until I met Reborn, I didn't have any of the attributes of a boss either." _Psh, Tsu-nii has the qualities of a boss. He's kind, protective, and strong in his own way._

"Until you met Reborn? Don't tell me - " said Tsuna, his eyes returned to their typical brown now that his sister calmed down some.

"Before I came here, I was training Dino to become a Mafia boss."

"Seriously?!"

"Reborn's training was brutal. I almost died a bunch of times." She could see the trepidation on her brother's face at his words. "Thanks to him, I'm now the boss of a 5,000-member Family. I wanted to learn more from Reborn, but he said he was going to train you, so I wiped my tears and saw him off."

Her brother was still reluctant to accept his position as the next Vongola boss and begged for him to take Reborn back. Dino let out another laugh, "You were right, Reborn! He's just like how I used to be. I had no intention of taking over the role of bose either. I figured any person who plots to join the Mafia can't be any good. Reborn's skill is undeniable. I'm sure you'll become a fine boss."

He continued more seriously and rummaged through his coat for something, "But if you're serious about not becoming one…," Tsuna backed up while Nade tensed her muscles, ready to defend against whatever he had, "...He'll bite you!" The young Cavallone boss held out a turtle slightly larger than his hand with a carefree smile.

Her eyes widened and to the others seemed to have gained a sparkle as they focused on the newly introduced reptile. "Oooh, what type of turtle is he? He doesn't look like the typical snapper turtle," she inquired.

"His names Enzio. He's a sponge turtle."

"Sponge turtle?" she murmured to herself. She'd never heard of one before - in either life. She's seen matamatas, snappers, and other species in aquariums she's visited, but no sponge turtle.

"He expands in water, hence the name sponge turtle." Upon seeing the amber-eyed girl's eagerness to hold Enzio, he placed the turtle in her hands. Hoping that his partner would soften her up toward him after their rough introduction to one another.

Miffed at the attention his fellow reptile was receiving from his second favorite human, Leon crawled from atop Reborn's hat to the desk and onto her hands as well. The two barely fitting in her smaller hands, forcing Leon to find a perch more on her wrists and forearms. Nadeshiko let out her first giggle since they got home. Her joy was felt by everyone in the room releasing the last of the tension that had built up from the previous altercation.

"Stay away, broccoli monster!"

I-pin ran in followed by the young Bovino holding two pink grenades who of course tripped and hurled both bombs out the window. They witnessed the Cavallone boss taking a bullwhip out from behind his back and using it to catch the grenades and throw them high into the sky away from his men. It was as dramatic as everything seemed to be with him especially as he landed on the pavement in what she deemed the superhero pose.

She listened as Dino's men continued their conversations as if bombs flying out of nowhere suddenly was an everyday occurrence. There were chuckles all around. "The boss screwed up again," said one. "Happens every day," said another. "It's just one of the boss' antics again." Nadeshiko wondered if Dino was actually being honest about being like Tsuna before Reborn's tutoring. Only, she wondered if he was still like that at times based on the comments from his men.

Setting aside her possible conclusions, for now, she pinned the nervous five-year-old with a stern look."Lambo-kun! What did I say about running around with your weapons?! It's dangerous! I-pin could have gotten hurt if the bombs landed anywhere near her and not out the window."

"Sorry, Nee-chan. Lambo-san will be more careful," he promised.

* * *

Reborn invited Dino to stay for the night and it just gave her a bad feeling.

"Here you go, everyone. Eat up!" At Nana's announcement, everyone gave thanks and dug in. As dinner progressed, she noticed their newest guest's messy appearance. Dino's section of the table increasingly got scattered with the curry, rice and fish the more he ate and while she was happy another person enjoyed her mama's cooking, she didn't appreciate his sloppy eating habits and looked at him with disdain.

"So, ask me anything, my cute otouto. I can pass down my wisdom as your senior." His extension of goodwill may have fooled her Nii-chan, but her opinion of the blonde boss was steadily dropping to Hibari-herbivore levels. _Now I know how Kyoya feels about the majority of the human race. _"Oh yeah, have you made a Family already?"

"So far he's got Gokudera and Yamamoto. Hibari and Ryohei Sasagawa can be considered candidates," informed Reborn. Tsuna promptly denied their inclusion to his Mafia Family and declared they were only friends.

"And Tsuna, Nadeshiko-chan, you can call me Dino-nii or Nii-san."

_Not in this life or the next._

Tsuna was currently dazed at having a cool older brother figure. "That's alright, Dino-_san,_ I already have one Nii-chan and that's Tsu-nii." With her mama in the room, she endeavored to maintain her polite facade not that it fooled Reborn. "I think you have greater things to worry about such as your food," she continued pointedly.

"Dino's a klutz without his men around. He's the type who can't bring out his strength unless it's for his Family. Without his men, his athleticism drops like a rock."

"Eh?! That's a pretty extreme quality for a boss…" said Tsuna.

"There you go again, Reborn. Tsuna and Nadeshiko-chan's going to believe you. It's just because I usually use forks and knives so I can't use chopsticks well."

"Mhmm," she hummed. She remembered his men's words and despite Dino's protests, she knew that he was just as clumsy, if not more, than her own brother and was almost completely ignorant of that fact or in denial. _Idiot._

Only a few moments after Lambo dismissed himself to take a bath, everyone heard his familiar scream. Dino stood up to address the problem but ultimately tripped on his own two feet. Nadeshiko stepped on his back, further pushing him to the ground as if he wasn't even there and resumed her walk to the bathroom. Her actions were unnoticed from all but Reborn. Upon entering the room, she found Lambo perched on the back of a much larger version of Enzio. _Well..now I see why he's called a sponge turtle._

Using her Mist flames, she was able to dismount the Bovino child by creating a set of wings on his back that carried him off his involuntary ride. Finally catching up to Nadeshiko, Tsuna was flabbergasted at the sight of a turtle the size of their bathtub. I-pin, wanting to help, readied her Gyoza fist but was swooped up into Nadeshiko's arms before she could make her move.

Dino armed his bullwhip hoping to show his skills to his cute little siblings. "That Enzio. When did he escape? No matter. Stay back, nobody interfere. It'd be a disgrace for the Cavallone Family if their tenth boss can't even take care of his pet. Calm down, Enzio!" Just like she expected after Reborn's confirmation of his inability to function without his family, his whip smacked her brother right in the face and almost hit the trio who, thankfully, were safely sequestered behind her little angel wing barrier that she's perfected since that day in the flower field.

Reborn and she exchanged looks consisting of amusement and annoyance. Hey, if he wanted to solve this himself then she'll leave it up to him. Reborn already said any damages would be paid for by Vongola, so she had nothing to worry about.

In her opinion, Enzio was still adorable. All giant-sized and feral.

Reborn - like the good tutor he was - took pity on the boss and to-be boss and had Leon transform into a Romario mask. _Why Dino fell for such a poor disguise only adds to his idiocy, _she thought.

"Dino-san is cool after all." _No, no, my foolish Nii-chan...he is not cool whatsoever._

* * *

Even now she couldn't understand why the Cavallone Sky rubbed her the wrong way. She knew he was a good guy despite his refusal to acknowledge his disability. _Maybe it's his flames - or is it his denial?_ She wasn't sure and didn't care enough figure it out. She decided to either ignore or tease him for the time being and if her teasing got a bit physical...well, she had the excuse of witnessing Reborn's version of teaching.

She wasn't surprised to find their house surround by Dino's men again the next morning and greeted them before heading off to school without her brother who ended up sleeping in. Knowing Reborn, he probably had another thing planned for Tsuna that morning.

* * *

**Birthday Interlude**

_Reborn-san's such a dick._

When Reborn told everyone aside from Tsuna that his 1st birthday - _He already said he was one year old so how could he be turning one again -_ was October 13th, the day before Tsuna's birthday, she knew this was just going to be a part of some cruel joke. She participated in Reborn's Vongola birthday party and saved her brother from being stabbed to death during Gokudera's "magic" show by using her illusions to remove the tips of the swords when they entered the box - don't ask her how that worked, she attributed it to Misty magic - but later that night when everyone was asleep, she crept silently to Tsuna's room and woke her sleeping brother.

"Nii-chan, wake up." She whispered and checked the clock on his bedside table that read 11:58 pm. She took a seat beside him on the bed and sat cross-legged as Tsuna sat up, groggy from being woken up.

"Nade? Why'd you wake me up?"

Taking out a small box wrapped in an orange wrapping paper and a white ribbon and a small cake she made sure was hidden from the rest of the house - who knew what Bianchi would have done if she found it - Nadeshiko lit the candle on the cake and presented it to her brother at exactly 12:01 am. "Happy 14th birthday, Tsu-nii."

His eyes shined with warmth at the thoughtfulness of his imouto. He opened the gift first and revealed a black leather cuff wrap bracelet with flat purple gem held in the center by more leather cords and the Vongola crest burnt on the opposite side.

"Thank you, Nade." And that was all that was needed between the Sawada siblings. No matter how awkward and unlucky he was, he was still her beloved brother.

She showed him her own matching cuff bracelet - the only difference between them was that the gem was orange - and explained how they could use it as a holographic phone. She thought it was _way_ better than the typical cellphones and was a way that they could always be in contact with each other even if they're countries apart. She also thought it was pretty cool that she designed a super cool sci-fi invention like in the movies regardless of the fact that it required the ability to have super flamey powers. It was still cool.

She prayed that Tsuna would be alright with whatever the Mafia world - and Reborn - threw at them next and that she'd be by his side through it all as his imouto.

* * *

_Juudaime = _tenth-generation boss

_Otouto = _little brother

_Imouto = _little sister

**Review! Whatcha think?**

_LairaCapulet: _**Thanks! I never thought Haru was a necessary character except for those fanfics that did well with increasing her importance. Thanks for your opinion on Dino's and Nade's relationship and your support for even if I didn't agree. I decide to go for a Kakashi/Gai relationship where Dino is Gai and Nade is Kakashi. One eager and the other teasing. Hopefully, I'll be able to get that across in future chapters.**

_Merendinoemliano: _**Thanks for always reviewing for me :D. I'm so happy when I see your curiosity on what's next.**

_TheIrishWriter: _**Yeah...don't really know much with rose stuff and Japanese culture. I'll do my best to research what I can, but I know I won't be perfect at that sadly. Tsuna and Nade have a relationship where they're close and protective of each other but are willing to let the other do what they want. In the case of the HDM and X-Burner, I think Nade will be proud and like WOW! but with what I have planned….she won't see the X-Burner attack for a while….**

_TS Soul: _**Thanks! I hope you'll continue to like what comes next! :D**

_Tears n' Pizza: __**Filipino! Filipino! Bebot bebot be!**_** I'm Filipino so I thought why not make my first story's OC a Filipina. This won't be a major point for the rest of the story, but I kinda just wanted to have a specific origin for our heroine. **

_0Someonetrange0: _**Yeah, Nade's very chill which is why I love her. She will acknowledge the craziness but will decide whether she should actively interfere or not depending on safety and stuff. **

_foxchick1: _**Thanks for reviewing! Hope you liked these other chapters and will like the future ones! :3**

**I probably won't be able to acknowledge everyone if this story gets more reviewers and such, but I'll do my best to always say THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! (^u^)/**

**Possible side story: Shamal's view of their meeting, Dino's thoughts that Nadeshiko is just being a tsundere.**

**Thanks for reading! Special thanks to those who've followed and favorited my story!**

**More Hibari/Nade moments and meeting Futa de la Stella in the next chapter. **

**1/7/20**


	8. Chapter 8

**Warnings**: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

**Enjoy the story!**

_Italicized words = _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

_LairaCapulet: _**Thanks for noticing the age difference. I literally smacked my head at this stupid mistake. I made them 10 and 13 in the beginning but completely forgot that since Tsuna's b-day was in the beginning that he'd end up 14 while she was still 10. Changes have been made to the best of my abilities. And the Mary-sue problem (that did/does worry me) but I think the problem is just that there's not enough conflict right now to show that she's not OP. Don't worry, those will come as the story progresses. I will say she **_**is**_** supposed to be a likable character b/c she is a calm, mature, intelligent, and compassionate girl partly from being reincarnated and her Sky flames make others feel happy (kind of hinted in one of the chapters). That'll be elaborated in the future. All I can say is wait and see and I'll do my best. **

_foxchick1_: **Since this is information easily found after researching Shamal on his character wiki, I **_**will **_**say that Shamal has Mist flames. I'm still figuring out how much I want him to interact with Nade. It's between him or Kawahira or BOTH or even Mammon for some training, but eh. It's a toss-up.**

**Sorry I'm not the best writer (IT'S SO HARD), but I'm trying my best when I only have experience writing science reports. Editing is definitely planned for the future. **

**Let's begin!**

* * *

Nade was walking back from school when she was stopped by Rui as she passed her neighbor's house. Rui barked at her to follow him so she did, wondering why the chihuahua accosted her. Approaching the dog house, she found a little boy wearing light blue jeans, a white collared shirt with a green sweater and a dark green coat curled up and sleeping. Around his neck was a white and black striped scarf that obscured the majority of his face to her.

"Hello?" she called out to him.

The little boy's nose scrunched up as his eyes blinked away his sleep. Still rubbing away the sleep from his eyes, he slowly crawled out of the dog house. His expression brightened as he saw her.

"Nade-nee, you found me!" _Did she know him? _She tried to put a name to the face in front of her.

"Do I know you?"

"No, but I'm so happy to meet you, Nade-nee!" He jumped up and hugged her around her middle.

"It's...nice to meet you too -"

"My name is Futa."

"-Futa-kun. How do you know me?"

"You're the younger sister of Vongola's tenth-generation boss, Tsunayoshi Sawada, ranked 2nd out of 33,560 high-ranking Mafia members for caring for children younger than you. I need your and Tsuna-nii's help. The mafia is after me."

Although a bit confused about how Futa seemed to know her and whatever that rank she held was, she was concerned for the kid and brought him home to see what Reborn thought and to wait for her brother.

* * *

"Mama, I'm home! And I brought a friend of Reborn's! We'll be up in Tsu-nii's room."

They waited in Tsuna's room with some complimentary cookies from her Kaa-chan.

"So, Futa-kun, how do you know I'm 2nd out of however many Mafia you said for caring for children younger than me? I know I like Lambo and I-pin, but I don't really go out of my way to interact with kids on the playground you know."

"The Ranking Star told me!" Smiling like he hadn't just told her something completely not normal.

_Ranking Star?_

Luckily Tsuna finally came home and entered his room, "Nade, Mama said Reborn had a friend over?"

"Tsuna-nii! Hooray! I finally get to meet you!" Futa ran up to Tsuna, took his hands in both of his, and shook them up and down with a gleeful expression.

"Huh, 'Tsuna-nii'? Who are you?"

Reborn popped up behind Tsuna, "This kid is nicknamed Ranking Futa, or Futa de la Stella. He's an information dealer who specializes in making rankings. His rankings are 100% accurate. It looks like he's here to ask a favor from you."

From there, Futa begged for Tsuna to protect him from the Mafia chasing him. His puppy eyes were almost as good as hers and even with her help to convince Tsuna, he was still averse to anything Mafia related and tried - note _tried_ \- denying his request. Futa took out a large red book and plopped it onto the table, "Tsuna-nii is ranked 872nd out of 872 Mafia bosses in terms of overall combat ability and intelligence. That's last place. But in the ranking for people who can't refuse a request, you're first!"

_Pft, poor Tsu-nii._ She turned away from the two and muffled her laugh behind her hand as Futa listed more of his rankings. "You know, Futa-kun, although Tsuna's ranked last for most of your rankings, in my opinion, he doesn't fit into the typical rankings. He's probably one of the kindest and most inspirational people in the _universe_ when he gets riled up. Plus, when it's important, Tsu-nii gets the job done to the best of his ability. I say he's a person who does better under pressure. His base scores really don't do him justice."

Futa was surprised and a thoughtful look went across his face as he stared at her. Suddenly objects around the room began floating. Tsuna did his little 'Hie' when the book beside him joined the rest of the floating objects.

"It's Futa's Ranking Mode. The theory is that whenever he ranks something, the energy concentrated within his body nullifies the force of gravity around him," informed Reborn.

"Nade-nee is ranked 5th out of 253,456 people most likely to give second chances and forgive. 4th out of 224, 443 people who agree with tough love being necessary. Her potential as a strong Mist flame user is ranked 3rd out of 92,666 mafiosi around the same age as her. 2nd out of 72, 232 Namimori citizens who dislike crowding although is significantly more tolerant compared to the one in first -" _Three guesses on who's first, and the first two don't count. At least _I_ don't go on a beating spree when I dislike something. _"- and her top three features, from lowest to highest, are her beautiful eyes, her bright smile, and her warm aura."

Nadeshiko's face burned red at the last ranking. She liked the sound of her potential as a strong Mist flame user in the future and swore to build up her abilities. In the meantime, Lambo and I-pin joined in and due to their smaller sizes were floating like the rest of the objects. Still in his Ranking Mode, Futa ranked I-pin's Minzu Time Bomb and her potential as an assassin which was impressive for her age.

"Ne, ne, ne! What about Lambo-san?! Tell something about Lambo-san! Quick! Quick!"

"Lambo-kun!" She grabbed the toddler floating in front of Futa's face, "Don't be rude. Give him space," and settled on the bed with the excited Bovino on her lap to prevent him from floating.

"As for Lambo, he's first by a mile...on the list of most irritating Mafiosi." Cue tears. Nadeshiko comforted him but hoped Futa's words made him realize how his actions can be annoying to less tolerant people. As I-pin floated nearby she grabbed on to the little martial artist as well to add her to their cuddle group. Giggles erupted from all three of them.

"Juudaime! Nadeshiko-sama! Why didn't you tell me the ranking kid is here?" Gokudera and Yamamoto entered the room. Yamamoto and she exchanged smiles and greeted the other with a nod.

From then on, the rankings got worse but made Nadeshiko snicker mentally, especially when it was revealed that the one Tsuna loved the most was Leon. Tsuna looked like the world was ending at that point as everyone stared at him in incredulity.

"No~, Leon you can't leave Reborn for Tsu-nii. He'll be heartbroken," she joked and glanced out the window. "Oh, it looks like it's raining now."

"Rain?" Futa collapsed beside her onto the bed. "I don't feel well...Rain and me don't mix. I hate rain, it messes up my rankings." He fell asleep.

"There's a theory that rain disrupts his communication with the Ranking Star."

"So all the rankings during the rain are wrong then? That's a shame. I'm sure Leon was happy to have an admirer," she added and dodged a smack from Tsuna.

"Nade!"

She brushed back Futa's bangs to feel his forehead. It looked like he was just exhausted and needed a nap...or some sugar. A commotion outside drew her attention. There was a sea of black umbrellas in front of their house.

With a hastily made plan of action against the Todd Family - recognized as such by Gokudera - it was decided that Nadeshiko, Yamamoto, and Gokudera would lure the mafiosi away from the house while Tsuna would run with Futa in the opposite direction. She used her Mist flames to disguise herself as Futa and jumped onto Yamamoto's back.

"Good luck, Tsu-nii! Be careful, alright?" Giving her signature two-finger salute, Gokudera created an opening with his bombs and off they went.

* * *

"Then Tsu-nii went _bam_ and _pow_ and _whoosh_ then flipped! He was amazing, Nee-chan! You were right. My rankings were wrong for the first time!" She listened with rapture as Futa recounted what happened on their end.

It looked like her family gained a new member today.

* * *

Humming could be heard throughout the kitchen. Nadeshiko was making different flavored french macarons for Valentine's Day. It really was a shame that she went to an all-girls school because she loved baking and the day of love was a great excuse to make a whole bunch of sweets. She didn't know many guys other than Tsuna, his friends and Kyoya - and Reborn - so that's who she planned on gifting her macarons to tomorrow.

She was excited for when she'd finally join them at Nami Middle in the Spring. Kyoya notified her one evening on her way back from the dojo that she'd be going to Namimori Middle to be the Disciplinary Committee's secretary. No if, ands, or buts, just, "_Mashiko_, you'll be my secretary for Disciplinary Committee," then his cool jacket billowing exit.

She didn't mind. Despite what most of Namimori thought, spending time with her friend was quiet and relaxing to her.

Ah, yes. Her friend. Her _only_ friend. Not that it mattered much to her since she preferred her alone time. The perks of being an introvert in both of her lives. She supposed it was to be expected. She was too mature to connect to her preteen classmates and only cared enough to be on good terms with them.

It baffled Nadeshiko that she was _popular _considering that she had no close friends in her peers. Well, was it considered popular if everyone knew you, treated you nicely, but otherwise tiptoed around you? It was the oddest thing. Her classmates would come up to her to ask her questions on the class material then blush. _Blush._ _Who blushes from someone helping them?! _And that someone being the _same_ gender seeing as Midori Elementary was an all-girls school. Then they'd run back to their friends, _maybe _squeal as they go, and Nadeshiko would be left in relative peace.

She'll never understand it.

Partner projects were probably worse. Her classmates wanted to be her partner...but also became so stressed when working with her because _they_ wanted it to be perfect for _her_. Don't ask her why. She had no idea. Nonetheless, it guaranteed an A worthy finished project, but working with others was like 99% work and 1% play. The group projects she had in _college_ were more relaxed and fun.

She silently sighed as she poured the macronage mixes into piping bags. She didn't blame them, but it still sucked to be treated like a boss they needed to impress or a rare animal they need to be careful around by people _physically_ about the same age as her. She wondered, was it a Sky thing? A Cloud thing? Her brother had attracted bullies, while she attracted yet similarly repelled others like Kyoya did. She was sure he was a Cloud after she asked Reborn about the description of Cloud flame users. How else did he get a following of loyal delinquents and respect from basically the whole town _and_ at the same time was feared by the very people who respected him?

While she did slightly envy her brother for his newfound close friends, she found it easier to interact with kids younger than her like Lambo, I-pin, and Futa, and those older than her like Kyoya and her brother's classmates. She just hoped it'd all settle down as they got older.

She remembered her classmates' reactions a couple of days ago when she officially said she'd be going to Namimori Middle in the Spring.

_**Flashback**_

_She was reviewing the macaron recipe she'd be using and didn't notice until one of her classmates came up to her seat. Dang, she didn't remember her name just that she worked on one of those group projects with her at the beginning of the school year. "Eto, Sawada-chan, we - uh - I was wondering...will you be going to Midori Middle next semester?" _

"_No, I decided to go to Namimori Middle," she stated matter of factly. _No harm in being honest, _she thought._

"_EH?!" Nadeshiko jumped in her seat, suddenly the entire room's attention was on her. _

"_Why?" continued the now upset looking girl._

"_I just wanted to be with my Nii-chan and my friend at their school." _

_Little did she know that just about every one of her classmates was thinking that they needed to do their best to befriend Midori's unaware school idol before the end of the semester. _

_**Flashback End**_

Since that day, she had received multiple invitations to have lunch with different friend groups. It was unsettling - this change in behavior. As soon as class ended, she made it a point to not be in the classroom.

Gotta loved those wonderful things called Mist flames.

"Mm~, Na-chan, those smell delicious! And they're so cute!" Nana loved when her daughter would bake. While she was a wizard in the kitchen, she had to admit that her daughter beat her in baking. Plus, she always got to be the first taste tester when Nadeshiko finished baking.

Packed into separate boxes were orange creamsicle, chocolate matcha, mint chocolate, coffee mocha, lemon, creme brulee, strawberry, and s'mores flavored macarons. She'd leave earlier to deliver Kyoya's macarons since she didn't think her brother would be comfortable delivering a Valentine's gift to Namimori's resident demon.

* * *

The now eleven-year-old Nadeshiko was excited - she was officially a Nami Middle student. Today was her first day. She'd be able to walk the full way with her Nii-chan instead of breaking off when she had to go to Midori Elementary. She donned Namimori's yellow blazer and decided on the blue bowtie to complete her ensemble. She braided the short strands on the side of her face and one long braid with the rest of her hair. _Perfect_.

She ducked her head into Tsuna's room before heading downstairs for breakfast, "Tsu-nii, wake up already! I don't want to be late on my first day!" She continued down the stairs, hearing the distant crash of her brother meeting the floor after awakening via Reborn's Leon mallet.

On the way to school, the siblings were joined by Gokudera and Yamamoto. Upon reaching the school gates, the boys noticed more stares than usual being directed at them. Nadeshiko - used to the peculiar attention at Midori - was oblivious. "See you at lunch, Tsu-nii, Gokudera-san, Yamamoto-san," she said as she headed to her designated classroom.

* * *

"Nadeshiko...Sawada-san?"

"Present!" Whispers broke out around her. _Was something wrong?_

The teacher continued roll call with no problems, but Nadeshiko was still hung up on what happened after she was called. Her morning consisted of mathematics, social studies, English, and gym. A bit heavy for a morning, but at least it meant she had easier classes after lunch.

She noticed that the teachers and some of her classmates would pause as if something didn't compute in their brain whenever she answered questions correctly and volunteered to answer them when no one else would. It was even more obvious during gym when she successfully spiked in volleyball and there was a moment where everyone just stared. Was it because she's blonde? Were they expecting the dumb blonde stereotype or a gangster? Gokudera had silver hair so how was blonde more eye-catching?

She was relieved when they were finally dismissed for lunch and grabbed her bento as she walked to her brother's classroom. The door was still closed so she slid it open drawing the attention of the students still in the room. Her eyes connected with Tsuna's, "Tsu-nii? Are you ready for lunch?"

"Tsu-nii?!" Some random guy sitting at the back of the classroom shouted. "Dame-Tsuna's related to _you_?" _Well, that's rude. _

She glared at the idiot, "Not that it's any of _your _business, but I've been related to my _brother_ for eleven years now. And my _brother _is _not_ a _Dame_. Can we go now?" She directed her last question to her brother and his friends. It looked like Gokudera was already in the motion of rebuking the idiot and her brother looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Haha, let's head to the rooftop, Nade, Tsuna, Gokudera." Yamamoto to the rescue. He threw his arms around Tsuna and Gokudera and dragged them out of the classroom as Nadeshiko followed them to the roof.

* * *

Lunch began with an awkward silence. Tsuna's head was resolutely on his bento and his guardians-to-be didn't know what to do with the incensed little sister.

"So...Nadeshiko-sama, how has your first day been so far?" Gokudera courageously inquired.

She sighed. "Fine...Weird." She scowled. "Everyone just keeps staring at me like I have two heads. Is it because I'm blonde? Cause I can't do anything about that and I refuse to dye my hair brown or - Kami forbid - black."

Tsuna mumbled something under his breath. At her nagging, he repeated what he said, "It's my fault you're getting all this undue attention. I'm _Dame-_Tsuna. The guy infamous for failing at everything - especially school and sports. They probably can't comprehend how a _Dame_ like me could have a sister that's no doubt already shown she's smart and athletic. I know you Nade, you're smart. You've tutored me on my schoolwork _way_ before Reborn came when it should have been the other way around. I really am useless." The more he spoke the more he seemed to shrink into himself.

"Tsuna!"

"Juudaime!"

"Tsunayoshi Sawada." The three boys turned to Nadeshiko, who was looking fixedly at her brother. "You are _Tsunayoshi Sawada_, _heir _to the _greatest_ Mafia Family in the _world_. One day to be Vongola's tenth-generation boss. You fought and _won_ against that Mochida bastard you told me about, saved Gokudera when he was about to be blown by his own bombs, sparred with the head of the boxing club and _won_, saved Futa from being _used_ and _abused_ by the Todd Family for his ranking abilities, _and..._learned how to swim despite how much you hated the swimming classes so that I'd feel safe when we go to the beach."

The latter was said in a small though still resolute voice. She could never convince herself to swim at the beach in this life. She blamed it on dying by drowning before, but she was fine in a pool. As soon as she felt the pull of the water on her feet in the sand or heard the crashing of waves, a feeling of dread and terror would paralyze her. She remembered when she was four their family visited the beach and she was brought to tears when their Papa thought it'd be fine to hold her above the water after she vehemently refused to go anywhere near it with kicks and scratches. She couldn't even remember to use her flames to help her when all she felt was fear in the presence of the ocean.

It left a bitter taste in her mouth at the fact that she could barely endure standing in the shallows when she knew how to swim. It was only with Tsuna's help that she even got that far. He was determined to learn, _did_, and would hold her hand whenever they went to the beach.

"You're not Dame and you're not a failure. You're Ryohei-san, Gokudera-san, and Yamamoto-san's friend and you're _my_ Nii-chan and I'm proud of that."

The three second-years were at a loss for words. While his little sister was always supportive of him, Tsuna had always felt like a failure of an older brother for his lack of intelligence and athleticism. He was sure none of his peers even knew he had a sister other than Kyoko, Hana, his two year-mates, and Hibari. He loved his sister and would do anything for her, but it recently hit him in the face of how different they were now that she went to the same school as him. Everyone liked Nade. Even _Hibari-senpai_ liked her and he's never even _seen_ them talk to each other.

When they entered the school grounds, he saw how students just stopped what they were doing when they saw his admittedly cute blonde-haired little sister walking like she owned the very air they breathed. She was riveting, he knew that. When she walked in a room all eyes were on her...and then they saw she was with Dame-Tsuna and the awed stares turned into confused ones.

He should have trusted his friends and his imouto that they wouldn't care about what others would say. His sister had a way with words when she decided there was something that needed to be said. He sent her a content smile, "Thank you, Nade."

…

The rest of the lunch was peaceful as Gokudera and Yamamoto argued or rather Gokudera argued while Yamamoto unintentionally - O_r was it intentionally, _she thought - annoyed the bomber. They left the roof, but when she turned the corner let out a soft 'oomph' as she bumped off the other's body and was forced to step back slightly.

She heard her brother quietly 'Hie' behind her and the choked noises from the boys and knew immediately who she ran into. "Good afternoon, _Hibari-_san. How was your lunch break?" She smirked good-naturedly at the third-year.

"Hmph, report to the Reception room after school, Mashiko. You're to begin your duties starting today. Don't be late. Herbivores should head back to class - lunch break is almost over," he directed his last statement to her brother and his friends then continued his patrol around the campus.

"Che, how dare he not even apologize for running into Nadeshiko-sama!" Gokudera spat.

"Eh? Nade, what does he mean report to the Reception room?" Tsuna asked.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? I'll be joining the Disciplinary Committee as a secretary now that I go to Nami Middle. Hibari-san asked-" _Demanded more like._ "-me if I'd like to be it last semester and I accepted. I don't mind, and at least it'd mean I'd be part of a school club for once."

Tsuna didn't know what to say to her nonchalant reply. He immediately imagined his imouto in a gakuran like Hibari's saying, "I'll bite you to death."

_Oh no._

* * *

**THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! (^u^)/**

**I thought I was going to get to Kokuyo but decided to have just Futa and her intro to Nami Middle for now. **

**Possible side story: Reception room scene between Hibari and Tsuna; Midori Elementary's view of Nade; Tsuna's POV on Nade's first day at Nami Middle**

**Can you guess which macaron flavors go to which characters? (Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Lambo, Hibari, Reborn, and I-pin (cuz she deserves some too))**

**Nadeshiko's birthday is April 23, 20XX. **

**I found the website that I used to find Nade's nickname. Did ya know Hibari specifically translates to "cloud finch"? Also, about the nickname Mashiko - it actually translates to Monkey lol, but is used for "rose finch" since its red coloring is like a monkey's (I guess?). So it's Mashiko - rosefinch - and Hibari - cloud finch. Awwww!**

**Please review and tell me what you guys think? You're predictions, critics, etc. I don't care. I'd love to hear from you!**

**1/7/20**


	9. Chapter 9

**Warnings:** Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

_Italicized words _= I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**To **_Belladu57_**, **_vale7887_**, **_arisasonoda84_**, **_tenimyuohtori_**, **_merendinoemiliano_**, **_LairaCapulet_**, **_foxchick1, Misaki Vanderwood _**\- THANKS FOR REVIEWING! I'm glad you guys like the story so far! (^u^)/**

_Misaki Vanderwood_**: I say that that's rather fitting to the situation. Pretty cool. What's your language?**

_tenimyuohtori_** mentioned that Hibari means 'skylark' and that's is totally true. I forgot to mention that 'Hibari' when written in Kanji - which is written like Chinese characters - is when it translates to 'cloud flinch.' Sorry for the confusion.**

**Also, just so everyone remembers, Nadeshiko is 11 years old (1st year), Tsuna is 14 years old, and Hibari is 16 years old. Nadeshiko is young for her school grade – let's just say she skipped a couple of grades in Midori Elementary. If anyone has a problem with the romance between Nade and Hibari b/c ****if their ****5 year****age difference…oh well. But know that things like kissing on the mouth or anything sexual will NOT happen unless I'm talking about their future selves and even then, will be brief. This is rated T for teens lol. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The sound of a door sliding open echoed through the Reception Room. In stepped a small blonde-haired amber-eyed girl no one in the Disciplinary Committee - besides Hibari - had seen in Namimori before.

"_Hibari_-san, I'm here to report for duty." She sent their stoic leader a two-fingered salute and a smirk as she leaned against the side of the entrance. They noticed the same type of effortless grace exhibited by their very own leader. The few Disciplinary members in the room all winced anticipating Hibari's 'I'll bite you to death' and pitied the girl. Their leader didn't discriminate when dealing with people he considered annoying and if she dyed her hair blonde it'd just add to her 'crimes.'

"_Mashiko_, you will oversee most of the secretarial duties of the Disciplinary Committee including but not only documenting reports, handling files, and organizing the Committee meetings. You are also tasked with liaising with the herbivorous clubs," stated Hibari behind his steepled fingers. In the next moment, he grabbed something from one of the desk drawers, then threw an armband at the unknown girl.

She caught it with one hand, slipped it on, and approached their intimidating leader with a soft smile, "Whatever you say, _Hibari_-san."

After a brief staredown between the two, Hibari got up to leave the room. To say they were confused was an understatement. The leader was almost out the door when he said, "Come."

Without a second glance at his followers, he headed toward the roof. The girl turned and gave a short bow to the rest of the room. "Since _Hibari_-san didn't introduce me properly I'll make this quick. My name is Nadeshiko Sawada and I'm a first-year. Hibari-san asked me to be the Committee's secretary so you'll probably see me around. Please take care of me." The now dubbed Nadeshiko Sawada hurried out the door likely to follow their esteemed leader. Their last sight of her being the flicking end of her braid as she turned out the door.

Even Tetsuya Kusakabe, second-in-command for their leader was equally bewildered - although even that was a major understatement. How and when did their anti-social belligerent leader meet and - from the looks of it - get along with a girl_ at least _3 years his junior?

The same thought raced through each prefects' mind: _T__he coming days __would__ be interesting_.

Figuring Hibari and their new secretary would be on the roof, Kusakabe headed to join them - if only to be vicinity for when his leader called for him.

* * *

The last thing he expected was to see the new girl expertly dodging fierce blows from Namimori's resident demon.

Nadeshiko appeared to weave around Hibari's attacks and dropped last minute into a split to dodge the swing of his tonfa. Kusakabe admired her skills as he watched her performed a backward roll to gain space between her and Hibari while maintaining a calm and determined demeanor. Neither moved as they studied the other.

Nadeshiko also used the time to gain back her breath. She wasn't expecting that the first bonding moment they'd have at school would be fighting. How would she have known that her first day for secretary duty would begin with avoiding her friend bludgeoning her head? Oh, wait...he's Kyoya Hibari.

He never tried forcing her to fight after her training at the dojo for some reason, but she supposed that now that she was in Nami Middle that Kyoya deemed it was time.

Whatever that meant.

She knew she wasn't as strong as the fight-loving prefect, especially now that she was handicapped by the arrival of one of his members. It ticked her greatly that she had to face him without her favorite 'weapon' but she'd make due. Based on Kyoya's favorite weapon and his performance so far, she knew he had more experience in heavy hits and striking with his upper body so there was no hope for her in starting a fistfight. He was also fast which made it more difficult for her to execute her techniques.

Her best strategy – wait and react. And _survive._

Bringing her attention back to their spar, she assumed a fighting stance and kept her hands open. _If I have any chance against him, then I'll have to use judo since he's not used to it, I think - although even that seems bleak. That __doesn't mean I'll go down without a fight though. _

He lunged forward executing a left hook with his tonfa. A light layer of cloud flames - unseen by Kusakabe – coated her palm as she grabbed his oncoming wrist. Using his momentum, she grabbed his other arm and dropped onto her back as she used her foot to push his hip up off the ground and around as if he were doing a cartwheel. Not one he could land though.

She reveled in the slight widening of his eyes as he felt his body being twisted midair with gravity smashing him onto his back. A grunt left his mouth accompanied by a deep thud. Meanwhile, Nadeshiko continued to roll back and sideways to straddle his waist and readied to punch him in the face before he collected himself.

Not fast enough.

Next thing she knew, her punch was caught by his hand and she was flying off him and near to the visibly worried Kusakabe. Immediately she returned to her feet and prepared herself, wincing at the ache she felt in her ribs from the last hit.

"Wow, I'm glad I waited," he told her with a slight grin. He resumed his attack, opening with an uppercut with his tonfa aimed for her chin while his other twirled in preparation.

Honestly, she didn't mind fighting with him – it was educational and thrilling to fight someone as strong as Kyoya– but she knew the fight wouldn't last much longer with her winded as much as she was already.

She dodged his swings, moving the slightest bit to the side and back after each strike. At the end of one of his swings, she noticed an opening and threw a sidekick in the hopes that it'd land true. He blocked it. _Of course__. _

She recovered her leg before he could use it to his advantage and ran away briefly to jump off the wall behind her for more height, twisting to send a roundhouse kick to his head as he followed right behind her. He was prepared and blocked her attempt with an arm. Once grounded she tried kneeing him in the stomach which was swiftly blocked then followed up with punches until he caught her arm between his tonfa and his own arm. He pulled it outward to open her up for his other hand to strike.

Nadeshiko counterattacked with a crescent kick to dislodge his hold or risk getting hit in the face then spun around with an ax kick. Hibari barely had the time to dodge the last kick but finished the fight with a well-placed jab to her middle pushing her to the wall. He pinned her with his tonfa across her throat.

"You're not strong enough yet, _Mashiko_." He was still keeping her pinned when they both knew the fight was over.

She scoffed, "You know my talents lie in something other than hand-to-hand combat – or rather hand-to-_tonfa_ combat. Seriously, _Hibari-_san, it's an unfair fight if you can use your weapons and I can't," she sent a glance at their one-man audience, "It probably wouldn't change the outcome of our spar either way, but I'd at least have a better fighting chance. Ugh, I think you bruised something that should never be bruised."

"Kyoya-san, perhaps Sawada-san requires medical aid?" Kusakabe interjected to help the girl who could surprisingly keep up with their leader.

"Hmph, get stronger, _Mashiko_. I want to see you fly." She couldn't tell if he meant that figuratively or not since he knew she could make wings. Hibari stepped back and walked to a secluded corner of the roof to nap.

"Dang it, he wasn't even going full out," she pouted. She collapsed against the wall as the tall prefect approached her.

Being the well-prepared henchman he was, Kusakabe took out a first-aid kit and helped clean the scrapes and bruises from their spar.

"It was still a very good fight Sawada-san. Not many can last more than a few seconds with the leader nor do they usually leave with only scrapes and bruises." He introduced himself and explained he was the vice-leader of the Disciplinary Committee.

"I suppose, Kusakabe-san. But next time I'm gonna throw him _way_ more." She aimed a glare at her already napping friend. "If he wasn't so quick to strike I'd have more opportunities to use judo, but since he's _him_ I'll just have to adapt and react faster. Hmph, bring it Hibari." Smirking at the idea that she'd see his shocked expression again when he gets flipped in their next spar.

_Yup, way more interesting_, thought the prefect.

* * *

Nadeshiko settled into a semblance of a routine since then. On the days she didn't train at the dojo and all her secretarial work was completed, she and Kyoya would spar after school on the rooftop. Most of the time resulting in aching muscles and bruises, but she could feel herself getting faster and stronger.

After Kusakabe felt comfortable enough with their sparring, he no longer watched for more than a few minutes – which meant the kiddie gloves were off.

She was able to practice fighting with her wings and incorporating her cloud flames into her muscles to give her more strength in her attacks. She used the smallest amount of her attention to redirect onlookers' attention from the rooftop as well so, _yay_, multitasking.

Not to mention the instant gratification when she could make the ravenette stunned after an illusion here or a toss there. It made up for the immediate 'Hibari beat down' – which she believed could be much worse than what he dealt. Over the course of the week, she's witnessed several beat downs of Namimori troublemakers and rule-breakers which typically resulted in hospital stays and broken bones. None of which have happened to her…yet.

She trusted him not to seriously injure her and he trusted in her abilities to defend herself or dodge.

She also appreciated how her position as the Disciplinary Committee's secretary and her armband could de-crowd a hallway faster than the school bell. She'd exit her classroom and it was as if everyone would either get to class or paste themselves against the walls of the hallway. It was amusing even if it made it hard to communicate with her peers when she was _unintentionally_ intimidating them.

She had Tsuna and Kyoya…and Kusakabe and Tsuna's friends by extension now that she thought of it so no loss for her in her opinion.

She still ate lunch with her brother and his friends although there were moments when Kyoya would show up, cause a group heart attack in her brother and his friends, and claim her help as the secretary was needed immediately. Often, it was more of a 'do this because I don't want to' situation with him.

Currently, it was after school and while Kyoya had nothing better to do than nap, she had paperwork to finish. She knew he used school as a place to relax and that he took paperwork home to do later at night. If she could minimize his burden by even the smallest bit by doing as much as she could after school, then she would.

She knelt beside the napping skylark, her back against his side. She offered to sit further away so the rustling of the papers wouldn't disturb him, but Kyoya had said it was fine and parked himself beside her.

She was used to working with soft background music, and unknowingly began softly singing as she worked.

"_The flowers that blossom in spring_

_And the wide sky of summer_

_These things will stay in my heart _

_And glitter_

Grey eyes opened quietly as they thoughtfully studied the back of the blonde Mist-user with a leveled gaze.

"_Rain that falls in the morning_

_Even on days I close my window_

_The light that flows from my heart_

_Is above the clouds_

Around them a warm glow shined. Grey eyes closed as the soft tune continued and the skylark drifted to sleep.

"_Joy and sadness_

_I will embrace them all and walk_

_My hand _

_And your hand together"_

The gentle smile that showed on both their faces would have been seen by any that witnessed the moment.

* * *

"Members of Namimori's Disciplinary Committee are being attacked and seriously injured - assailants remain unknown."

Despite his relaxed appearance, Nadeshiko could see the tenseness in Kyoya's muscles. His sharp eyes narrowed into slits.

"Has it been _just_ our members, Kusakabe-san? No one else? Not even outside of Namimori? Are there similarities that tie the attacks to one another?" She wondered, why the Committee members?

It was currently 7:00 AM. Nadeshiko, after receiving a text from Kyoya to report to the school immediately around 6:30 AM, headed to school before her brother was even awake only to be informed of the recent attacks on her fellow prefects by Kyoya and Kusakabe.

"Mochida Kensuke was the only non-Committee member so far, Sawada-san. Each victim was found with a pocket watch with the hands appearing to go counter-clockwise after each victim. The first attack the watch read 12:55, the next 12:50, Mochida was 12:45, and the latest attack which occurred late last night read 7:35"

"Wait, how did it jump from 12 to 7? What were the times before 7:35?"

"Before that it was 8:40, 9:45, 10:50, 11:55, 12:00, 12:05 and so on."

It seemed like a countdown but why? If she ignored the minutes and looked at the times as if both hands of the clock were hour hands she could see the message. 23. 22. 20. 7, 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

If the perpetrator wanted to, they could have counted up to show an increase in their victims, but they hadn't. Something was wrong.

Nadeshiko shared her thoughts with the others. They agreed, it was a countdown - _and they had no idea why. _

"Tch, bottom-feeders who are too weak they can only attack other weak prey deserve to be bitten to death. I intend to extinguish the root of the threat soon." Kyoya stood from his position. "Tetsu, have Disciplinary members patrolling the area at all times. Class will begin soon."

He exited the Reception Room leaving Kusakabe and Nadeshiko alone. She gave a sharp glance to the second-in-command, "Kusakabe-san, I know _Hibari_-san dislikes crowding but make sure they patrol in at least groups of 2 or 3. We don't know if they're being ambushed or challenged up front and I'd rather we didn't take that risk nor make it easier for them to pick us off. Understood?"

"_Hai_, Sawada-san."

* * *

Nadeshiko stood beside Kyoya as they monitored the students entering the school. She's seen just about every student flinching at the sight of the mass of Disciplinary members.

Upon seeing her brother and Reborn approaching the gates, Nadeshiko released a sigh of relief and neared the duo.

"Tsu-nii!"

"Ah, Nade, there you_-hie_ Hibari-san!" Tsuna blanched as he watched as his little sister - followed by Hibari - joined him and Reborn.

"Good morning to you as well Reborn-san," she nodded her head slightly to the hitman. "Did you hear about the attacks on Nami students?"

"We have. Your mom was giving Tsuna self-defense fliers this morning."

"Nade, will you be alright? We heard it's someone with a grudge against the Disciplinary Committee and now that you're a part of it - "

"No," Hibari interjected. Worried as he was about her, Tsuna forgot about Hibari's presence. "They will be dealt with soon enough."

At the same time Nadeshiko felt a breeze brush against her legs, Hibari lashed out with his tonfa.

The recipient of his attack let out a yelp of pain. "Ow, what was that for?" Complained Shamal.

"I sensed malicious intent. I suppose it was my imagination."

_Malicious intent my ass._ _The pervert was definitely in the middle of lifting my skirt_. She held a pinched expression, inwardly proud that she got into the habit of wearing shorts beneath her skirt and thankful that Kyoya's instincts included perversion prevention.

"That doesn't mean you should suddenly attack me," Shamal grumbled. His complaints were ignored.

"_Mashiko_, come." The ravenette began to walk away.

"I'm not a dog,_ Hibari_-san. Stop telling me to come all the time," she half-heartedly protested. Her statement was also ignored by the prefect.

"_Hovering over green from Namimori lain with verdure. Neither big nor -"_

Nadeshiko attempted to hide her laugh with a cough, but based on the glare thrown her way by Kyoya she was unsuccessful. _Pft, I told him to change his ringtone but no~. His pride for Namimori knows no bounds._ She was even more amused by the disbelief on her brother's face.

"Oh, I see." Hibari turned toward Tsuna. "Wasn't Ryohei Sasagawa is an acquaintance of yours?"

"Uh, yes."

"He's been beaten up." Reborn told her he was being considered as a potential guardian for Tsuna so she knew he wasn't a weakling.

In fact, none of the people attacked should have been an easy fight.

"Another person not related to the Disciplinary Committee. Not good." It really wasn't good. They had no idea how the victims were being chosen or why there was a countdown. "Tsu-nii, you're going to see Sasagawa-san right?" He nodded. "Then a pocket watch would have been found with him. Text me if the time reads 6:30."

"6:30?"

"Yes. Each victim was found with a watch counting down from the last victim. We still don't know how they're choosing targets but _Hibari_-san has a plan."

_Probably_.

* * *

Unheard by the three was a conversation between Shamal and Reborn.

"It was a conditioned reflex. It should be alright since cherry blossoms aren't in season now. He won't develop the symptoms of the Sakura-kura Disease."

"Also known as Verginious Cherryitis. In the presence of cherry blossoms, he will weaken. Sometimes to paralyzation." He gave the perverted doctor an admonishing look.

"Eh, not my fault. I was simply protecting Hime-chan when that delinquent attacked me."

"..."

* * *

She watched Tsuna and Reborn run in the direction of the hospital while Hibari headed in the opposite direction. As she moved to follow the skylark, she noticed the tail end of a familiar striped scarf.

_Futa? Isn't he suppose to be at home?_

Against her better judgment, she followed the boy who she had started to see as a little sibling like Lambo and I-pin. "Futa-kun! Futa!" Calling out to the running child did nothing. "Futa-kun stop! Where are you going? Mama will be worried, Futa!"

She recognized where he was running to - the abandoned Kokoyu Land her family frequented till the day they closed. Those were some of the times she respected her Papa. He'd go on the rollercoasters with her since Tsuna was too afraid to.

She finally caught up to Futa who was standing frozen in front of the decrepit building that used to be where games like bowling and the arcade used to be. She slowly reached for his shoulder, "Futa-kun, is everything alright? Why were you running?"

As her hand made contact, he spun around and clung to her middle. But unlike the first time he did it when he first appeared, something felt _wrong_ to her.

Bringing her hands to 'Futa's' shoulders and squeezing down painfully, she none too gently pushed the 'boy' off of her.

"Who in Kami's name are you and _where is Futa_?" She demanded with an ice-cold calm.

An eerie laugh that sounded like nothing that could ever pass through a young boy like Futa's mouth echoed in the air. "Kufufufu, I was wondering how a little girl like you was ranked the second strongest fighter in Namimori."

It was then that the countdown for the attacks made sense. Futa's rankings. Based on what he said, it was the rankings for the strongest fighters in Namimori.

"Ken and Chikusa are already hunting numbers 5 and 4, but I was just too curious about you, Nadeshiko Sawada - only eleven years old, a freshman of Nami Middle, barely past five feet, with a loser for an older brother. Yet you were ranked second, a member of Namimori's _laughabl__y _weak Disciplinary Committee, and a close friend to the strongest fighter in Namimori." In front of her very eyes 'Futa' transformed in a flare of purple flames - _Mist flames_ \- into a purple-haired teenage boy wearing what she recognized to be Kokuyo Middle's uniform. As he made eye contact with her she noticed one of his eyes was red and the other was blue. The red reminded her of the Sharingan and thought it fitting for an apparent illusionist.

"Can't say I can give you the stalker-worthy report you gave me," that earned her a glare, "but it's obvious you or this 'Ken and Chikusa' are responsible for the attacks on Nami students and that you used Futa's rankings against his will."

"Kufufu, guilty as charged, Nadeshiko-chan. Ah, I haven't introduced myself, have I? I am Mukuro Rokudo." The way he purred her name sent shivers down her spine. "Are you going to turn me in? Because you'll be sorely disappointed when you fail."

She took a page out Kyoya's book and without warning leaped forward with a kick to his head only for her foot to be blocked by a trident. She bent back her leg to aim another at his side but he anticipated her attack and jumped out of range. With a spin of his trident, he smashed the end of it into the ground. Columns of lava erupted around her. Feeling the heat - _it's not real -_ approach her from behind she materialized her Mist wings.

"Oya oya, so that's why you're the second strongest - you're an illusionist."

" I could say the same about you, Rokudo-san."

A battle of illusions commenced. When he conjured snakes she'd blow them away with a flap of her wings. When he'd throw flames at her she could tell which were real or held hidden debris in the illusions. She noticed that with each new attack, his red eye would show a different character. _Totally this world's __version of the Sharingan. _

But she made a fatal mistake when she allowed herself to be distracted by the observation and felt it when her opponent's trident nicked her arm. It was a small cut compared to others she's received when fighting Kyoya.

Blood trickled down her arm but she barely gave it a glance and instead brought her full attention to the illusionist who looked like the cat that caught the canary. "It's been a while since I've fought another illusionist, but it's your lost, Prefect-chan."

She didn't understand what he meant until a cold chill overtook her entire body. She fell to her knees unable to do more than breathe as her limbs numbed. She hadn't noticed Mukuro's approach until he was standing in front of her with an annoying smirk.

_What an interesting mind._

No.

_Tell me. What is your greatest fear?_

The smell of salt in the air.

_What is your deepest secret?_

A crashing wave.

_Kufufufu._

Numbing darkness.

_I see. _

* * *

**THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! (^u^)/**

**The song is "The Day That Will Come (Ashita Kuru Hi)" from the anime Kobato. I felt like those first few lines fit what I wanted. ALSO, I'd like you to imagine it sung in Japanese because I liked those versions better than any of the English translations and to imagine it not as high pitched at those specific parts because that'd be hard to sing softly in real life lol.**

**I've literally been searching for a song for Nade to sing since I started writing this fanfic. I thought about using "Aimo" because it did have 'skylark', 'sea', and 'sky', but then I felt like I needed to change the lyrics to fit the KHR theme better and sadly didn't get to doing that. Any songs you think would fit either now or in the future?**

**I f****elt like messing with the rankings and victim stuff a little so I hope you like the changes. Clarifications? Just ask****. **

**Sorry for the delay in the chapter.**

** I've been on**** a cruise with absolutely no internet connection and no laptop and when ****I tried writing it on Google Docs it didn't save b/c again no WiFi****. I think that was the saddest moment ****I've had this month.**** First time I've ever gone on a cruise so I was completely unprepared for the seclusion. (=_=)**

**Just saying but I just spent 30 or so minutes trying to figure out how to upload this chapter from my phone so it was sharing, downloading, and switching emails to get this thing uploaded while I'm sitting in the airport. **

**This chapter will be updated by tomorrow ****once I get back to my laptop to fix grammar, word choice problems, etc. **

**Review! What will happen next? ****Can Nadeshiko fight off Mukuro?**

**1/7/20**


	10. Chapter 10

**Warnings: **Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

_Italicized words _= I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**To **_battle manga, merendinoemiliano, Megi Keishii, TakaraX44, _**and** **\- Thanks for the reviews guys!**

**Guys, I'm going crazy trying to think of an appropriate weapon for Nade. At first I wanted to have a thorn whip like Kurama's from YuYu Hakusho (not that I've watched the anime but it looked good), or a spear (angelic/rose-themed), or a 3-section staff or a 9-section chain whip (which could be elongated with Cloud flame application, or a swallow (cause it looks REALLY cool). I feel like a flexible or long-range weapon would fit her personality, but it can't get in the way of her Mist wings which makes me bounce between the weapons. Of course, we can just say the weapons aren't blocked cuz Mist mojo but that's the last resort. **

_**What weapons do you think fit Nadeshiko? **_

**I have until the start of the Varia Arc to decide and it will help to determine who trains her.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Reborn, Nade hasn't responded to my text."

"Dame-Tsuna, she's probably busy helping Hibari."

"...but Reborn... she _always_ replies. Especially when she's expecting to be texted."

The hitman paused in his steps. Ryohei informed the duo of Kokuyo students being the culprits for the attacks and the watch matched Nadeshiko's predictions. Remembering his sister's request, he notified her of the culprits' identities and of the watch's time but she hadn't replied yet.

An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach. "What if she was attacked?! I know she's probably with Hibari-san and he could never lose, but I can't help but worry about her."

The beaten form of the vice-president of the Disciplinary Committee was being hauled in by the hospital staff, a sight none had imagined would happen. Reborn grabbed the pocket watch he noticed lain on the prefect's chest. After a brief look at the watch's time, his gaze hardened.

"I've figured out why the attacks are happening."

"You did?!"

"The cause of all this fighting...is you, Tsuna."

"Eh?! _Me_?!"

"Nade got me thinking and she was right. The attacks are a countdown." He handed Tsuna a sheet of paper.

"'A ranking of the strongest fighters at Namimori Middle'?" Unsurprising to Tsuna was Hibari's name in first place. He glanced down, "Nade's the second strongest in Nami Middle?!" He knew his sister did martial arts and expected her abilities to be on par with the members of the Disciplinary Committee but didn't know she was _that_ good.

"Un, and the ranking is one of Futa's. The Mafia has a code of silence, Omerta. It's a law that says under no circumstances should a person reveal the secret of his organization and Fuuta's ranking lists are a top-level organizational secret. No ordinary civilian would have access to it."

"Ryohei-san was sixth, so Kusakabe is the fifth strongest and since he was beaten the fourth-ranked person will be next!" His eyes darted down to fourth place - Hayato Gokudera. "W-What are we going to do Reborn?!"

"Things are getting worse. You go deal with it. I need to check something out. And find your sister. She's a target and if what you're feeling before was right, then they might not care about the order anymore."

* * *

It only took a few minutes for Kyoya to realize the absence of his little bird.

A quick perusal of the area deemed him completely alone. He flicked open his cell and tried calling his wayward companion.

"_The phone number you have reached is currently unavailable. Please - "_

He clicked his tongue. The last thing he remembered was the irritating doctor, a barely noticeable sting at his neck, and Nadeshiko's footsteps behind him. To his chagrin, he was more focused on finding the culprits responsible for disrupting the peace in Namimori to not notice the moment she left his side.

"_Hovering over green -"_

"Hibari."

"Come to Kokuyo."

The call which came from a very familiar phone number ended abruptly. If his stride was a little wider and his walk a little faster, no one was around to prove it.

* * *

"Yo. Thank you for coming." A purple-haired teen sat on a couch, the only thing in the room not in a dilapidated state, with his hands folded in front of his smirk.

"I've been looking all over for you. Are you the ringleader behind the mischief?"

"Fufufu, Something like that." He rested his chin in the palm of his hand, his smirk fully revealed in amusement. "Next, we'll bring a new order to your town."

"You must be delusional. Namimori doesn't need two different orders."

"Indeed, I agree wholeheartedly. Since I'm taking over, you're unnecessary now."

Hibari activated the spiked features on his tonfas, "That will not happen. Right here, right now, I'll bite you to death."

As he approached, the Kokuyo teen remained seated and relaxed, not at all worried at the prefect's threat nor his deadly weapons. "Do you want to die sitting?" Hibari taunted.

"Kufufufu, what interesting things you say. I'm sitting because there is no need for me to stand." A familiar figure materialized from the shadows, scuffed up with tears in her uniform but a part of Hibari was relieved to see her, for the most part, unharmed.

"You see, Nadeshiko-chan and I had a bit of a talk, but she was stubborn. _Still_ is being stubborn, but we've come to an agreement. You'll have to fight her first if you have _any_ hope of defeating me."

With dull eyes, a trident appeared in her hand as she lunged forward. He was quick to block the attack and began to respond to her mindless attacks. Seeing an opening and aiming to knock her out he swung his tonfa at her head, fully expecting her to dodge it and come into range of his kick. However, she froze and met the skylark's eyes with her own dull ones as the blow drew nearer.

The tonfa stopped a hair's breadth from the skin of her cheek. A growl like sound escaped his lips at the frustration that his 'opponent' had no qualms about getting injured.

"Oya? What's wrong? Aren't you supposed to be Namimori's bloodthirsty demon? After all the bodies you left on your trip up to meet me, kufufufu." It was clear that the games were over when Hibari felt vertigo suddenly hit him like a train and an agonizing pain seized his limbs. What followed was a repetition of sneers, taunts, bone breaks, and cuts as Mukuro abused the symptoms of Shamal's trident mosquito's Sakura-Kura Disease.

Mukuro reveled in the other's defeat as he easily rained blows on the paralyzed prefect. Although bloodied, bruised, and no doubt with broken bones, Hibari retained an obstinate scowl. Mukuro took a fist full of Hibari's hair and pulled it back into a painful position.

"Oho, your face is saying, 'How did I know you were unaware that you'd contracted the disease?' I wonder why, hm? Oya, do you think that if it weren't for the cherry blossoms, that you'd have a chance? That you'd be fine? But you'd be mistaken. I've seen many men equal to your skill level, and every time, I've _buried _them - in a place much like Hell. Now shall we continue?" He moved forward to continue battering him, but a slender hand caught his wrist. Nadeshiko slowly positioned herself between the two and met Mukuro's eyes with a blank look. Despite her insubordination, he could see that her mind was unconscious of its body's actions.

"Now, now, Nadeshiko-chan, it'd be best if you stepped aside, wouldn't you agree?" No answer. A sigh escaped his lips and he muttered, "So stubborn." He cupped her emotionless face in his hands. With a flash of purple, the blonde reluctantly collapsed into the arms of her kidnapper as he carried her to the couch he was previously sat at.

"It's rare to find a person as determined as her wouldn't you say, Prefect-san? Sorry for the delay." he jeered.

The only sounds were those of fists on flesh and painful grunts as Mukuro delivered hits until the strongest of Namimori was beaten to unconsciousness.

* * *

_Where am I?_

Nadeshiko moaned in pain as she sat up in a field of white roses as far as her eyes could see. The sky was tranquil and spotted with clouds, but she noticed that they weren't moving. As if it was a frozen image projected into the sky.

She struggled to remember what happened that ended up with her in this oddly peaceful flower meadow.

_Salted air, Crashing waves. Darkness….I see. _

"I've been waiting for you to awaken, Nadeshiko-chan. I was starting to get bored." She turned in the direction of the voice and twisted to face the smirking purple-haired illusionist behind her.

"So you've just been staring at me while I've been unconscious like a weirdo all this time?" she snarked back, finding some satisfaction at the disgruntled look that appeared on his face. She held his gaze for a long moment, no words being exchanged as they stared at the other until she tore her eyes away to stare at the flowers in front of her. "So, you know."

"That this isn't your first life? Then yes, I know."

"..."

"I _know_ because we're alike in this as well, Nadeshiko-chan. Have you heard of the six paths of rebirth? When people die, they're reborn into the Naraka, Preta, Animal, Asura, Human, or Deva Realms." _Reminds me of the six paths of pain from Naruto._ Unwillingly, her mind thought it was the best time to see the humor in his morbid tale as she thought, _He's like a walking Naruto mash-up character. _

"I have my past life experiences in all six realms etched into my body and gained six special skills. I've experienced the greatest pleasure in the Deva realm and the worst of the world in the Naraka realm. Greed. Lies. Adultery. Murder. Pain. Although the Human realm disgusts me the most."

"So what, Rokudo-san? You attacked countless _innocent_ Namimori students for what reason? To get back at the world? To test your strength?" She raised her head meeting his eyes once again challengingly.

"To find the Vongola heir, possess him like the many other dignitaries I plan on controlling, and destroy the mafia from within using the strongest mafia Famiglia to start a worldwide war. I will plunge this wretched world into darkness so it can be reborn."

Her eyes narrowed at his remark. _He's after Tsuna._

"Chikusa's already informed me that your brother, Tsunayoshi Sawada, is Vongola Judaime. He's already on his way to _defeat_ me for no doubt a noble reason like protecting his friends or saving you."

His smirked dropped into a frown suddenly, "...Do you regret it?"

"Regret it?"

"Dying."

"No." She knew she didn't. Her answer didn't seem to satisfy him his frown turned into a grimace.

"You didn't have to die. You could've lived. Graduated college, found a job, and one day you might have gotten married and had kids. You could've lived a long and happy life."

"At the cost of my cousin's life," she pointed out.

"It was his fault he played in the wrong place. It was his family's fault for not watching him. You didn't have to save him because they were careless," he scoffed.

"I didn't have to. But I wanted to."

"Wanted?" he scoffed. "You wanted to give up your life for a brat who could one day grow up to be just like the rest of humanity - selfish and greedy. Who'll possibly one day forget the sacrifice you made to save his life once he gets caught up in his own. And now you're here because some higher being decided to force you to live a life where your loved ones don't exist. Where you're the sister of the heir to the greatest mafia family in the world. A family with a history of blood, betrayal, and murder. _This_ is why I'll defeat Vongola's weak heir, destroy the mafia, and allow the world to be reborn from its ashes. Because if there's one thing reincarnation has taught me, it's that humans, the ugliest and cruelest beings on the planet, will never change until they've experienced Hell."

"You're wrong Rokudo-san. Not all humans are bad and even if they start out bad, it doesn't mean they can't change. I gave up my life - one that's lasted for over 20 years - to save the life of a child who had so many more years ahead of him. I don't regret losing my life to save his. There's no use in thinking of what my life could have been if I lived or whether or not David will remember me when he grows up. If anything, I'd rather he didn't remember me so that he won't have to remember the fear he felt or the cousin he lost.

"As for waking up in this completely different world...it's not too bad. Yeah, the people I knew and loved - still love - aren't here anymore, I've found friends and family in this new life. I have an older brother who'd run headfirst into a trap to save me - the lovable idiot - and friends who'll fight for me when I can't. I wouldn't exchange either of my lives for the other. I'll just do my best to live the best I can now that I've been given this chance at another life."

* * *

"_I'm happy to meet you again."_

"_You're…"_

"_Take your time. We'll be spending a long time together, Vongola Judaime."_

"_Huh? How does he know I'm the Vongola…"_

"_That's right. I'm the real Mukuro Rokudo."_

* * *

"So, what about you?"

The purple-haired teen gave her a perplexed looked. "What about me?"

"Likes, dislikes, hobbies other than you trying to take over the world or having a weird obsession with my brother, dreams that are PG for my currently young ears?"

"I do _not_ have a weird obsession with your brother!" His agitated and bewildered glare was exactly what she was expecting.

"Uhuh, so says the guy who says he'll, from what I understand and in slightly different words, make Vongola heir yours no matter what," she deadpanned.

"Oho, and what about you? You're the one with a big brother complex."

"I do _not_ have a big brother complex!" She glared at the Mist user.

"Kufufu, you do."

"No, I don't."

"You do."

"I don't."

"I can't believe you've reduced me to such a childish argument when we're both technically adults." Mukuro shook his head in disbelief.

"C'mon Mukuro-san, enjoy having a second childhood at least for a little bit," Nadeshiko teased, "You know I'm usually more mature than this most of the time, but even I try acting like my physical age once in a while."

* * *

_The unconscious form of Futa laid in front of Tsuna's kneeling form. He could vaguely hear the illusionist's mocking admiration of Futa's determination to protect his pseudo-older brother._

_"You abused an innocent boy…" How dare he?! "Mukuro Rokudo! What do you take people for?!" the brunette raged._

_"Toys, I suppose."_

_"You bastard! How dare you!" He ran toward illusionist ready deal back the damage Futa and all his friends suffered because of one man's nefarious plot._

_"But I must say, my favorite toy so far has to be my newly acquired one."_

* * *

"Rokudo-san...Mukuro-san," she addressed, "You didn't just come into my mind to ask me about my feelings about reincarnation, did you? I know something's happening in the real world, I'm not stupid. Tell me, are you fighting Tsu-nii right now? And what did you do to Futa?"

"Hmph, the Vongola is certainly amusing to watch flail around like a headless chicken. He actually thinks he can defeat me without the help of the Arcobaleno tutor and a useless whip."

"Reborn's here? Well, that's comforting at least. And Futa?" she pressed.

She watched him glower as he answered, "You can thank that brother of yours for helping Futa fight my mind control." Nadeshiko felt the worry she's had since realizing it was Futa's rankings leading the attacks disappear at his news. She had faith in her brother and his friends, since undoubtedly Reborn would make this another way for Tsuna and his guardians to bond and protect the Family, but she personally knew Mukuro wasn't an easy opponent.

"Tch." Her attention was brought back to the illusionist at the click of his tongue. "The prefect is interfering." _Kyoya__?_ Whatever anxiety she had left was comforted with the knowledge that her childhood friend was there to help.

Nadeshiko carefully watched as Mukuro's attention drifted from her mindscape to the real world. His jaw clenched tight as if bracing himself against a force. Suddenly his eyes met hers intensely, "In spite of his injuries, he's proven to be annoyingly tenacious. It seems I'll need to borrow your power for a bit, Nadeshiko-chan."

"Wha-" Before she could say more, darkness fell in her mindscape and a purple flame burned through the field.

* * *

Tsuna couldn't believe what just happened. When Mukuro pointed the gun towards them he wasn't sure what to do other than hope Gokudera wouldn't throw himself in the way of the bullet for him. But when the illusionist pointed it toward himself and suicided...he couldn't comprehend what had happened. _Why? Why did he do something like that? _

Tsuna wasn't sure if the trepidation he felt was from the aftershock of this whole event or from Mukuro's last words that they'd meet again.

"Tsu-nii?"

"Nade/Nadeshiko-sama!" they exclaimed as Nadeshiko stumbled out from what appeared to be a closet. They watched as she collapsed to her knees before she could make it to them.

"Did you finally beat him? Mukuro-san?" She tiredly inquired. Head bent forward and shoulders slumped.

"Y-yeah. Thank goodness you're okay, Nade." Despite the instant relief he felt at his little sister's return, something still felt off.

"G-Gokudera-san, can you help me up?"

"Of course, Nadeshiko-sama, it'll be my pleasure!"

The silver-haired bomber reached down to lend her a hand. That weird feeling returned as his friend approached his sister. "Gokudera-kun! Don't go closer!"

Gokudera, Reborn, and Nadeshiko looked at him confusedly. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Thinking it was because of his boss's worries for his injuries, Gokudera reassured him he was fine, "It's all right, Juudaime. My injuries aren't that serious. I'm okay." Nadeshiko took his offered hand firmly.

"Thanks, Gokudera-san...and sorry," the second part was mumbled under her breath as she lunged forward with the trident attachment that suddenly appeared in her hand. It was only thanks to Gokudera's quick reaction that he was able to avoid getting directly stabbed and was only nicked on the cheek.

"Eh?!" When they all thought this was over, suddenly someone they trusted almost injured one of them.

"What's with me?" she wondered out loud. Looking just as distraught as the rest of them, "Tsu-nii, can you help me up? Maybe when we're out of here I'll feel better." Her eyes gazed at him imploringly, but the young Vongola didn't move. _There's definitely something strange here, _he thought. _Nade's acting weird._

Reborn jumped to Nadeshiko's shoulder and patted her on the head, "What are you doing, Nade? You almost stabbed Gokudera, you know?"

"What have I done? How...awful of me!" At the second phrase she had stabbed at the hitman, but he flipped out of the way in time. Tsuna was sure that whoever was in front of them may have looked like his sister, but was definitely _not_ her. _That gaze...I've felt it before…_

_...Mukuro Rokudo._

A familiar and eerie chuckle filled the room, "Kufufu, we meet again."

* * *

"Mukuro-san! Mukuro! Let me out!" The darkness that tried to numb her like the last time hadn't completely touched her yet. When she first felt the change in Mukuro she wrapped herself in her own flames, but they were still weak from their fight and flickered the longer she held out. She could sense she was moving - fighting - against her brother and Reborn but she couldn't control herself. From the glimpses that popped up now and then she saw Kyoya passed out on the wooden floors, Bianchi and Gokudera possessed just like she knew she was, and two other possessed Kokuyo students. "Mukuro!" She was weakening faster because Mukuro was using her own flames to fuel his illusions against her brother.

"NO!" She saw as Tsuna was surrounded by Gokudera's bombs and a chorus of explosions went off. She pushed her flames as far as she could from her body. Mukuro's control lessening slightly from the sudden force.

* * *

Mukuro was in a bind. Not that he'd ever admit it. He was close to succeeding, so close to possessing the Vongola's heir. The means to an end of the world. Nadeshiko, another human forced into reincarnation - into the mafia - was a strong illusionist and while he admired her power, it was hindering his full possession of her once again. Mukuro's attention was already split as he possessed the bomber, the Scorpion, Ken, and Chikusa, and her resistance was taking more energy than he preferred.

She was a pure soul. He knew it from the moment he met her. When he realized she was like him, but that her death was from a sacrifice, he was filled with curiosity. Why did she reincarnate? How? Who?

Then he was filled with envy. She didn't have to suffer what he did. She looked at the world and saw a second chance when all he saw was ugliness and abuse that worsened after every reincarnation. How could she do that when she lost everything she knew before? How could she find humor when all he saw was darkness.

Her fear of the ocean was a weakness he could exploit, but he knew with the right push, she could overcome it. She wanted to live, wanted to be happy in her new life. He would never admit it to himself or to any other, but he wanted to hope like she did. To dream and want what he didn't get in his last lives.

To be happy.

But for now, his happiness would be the world's fall and society under his clandestine command. She was still naive. Her twenty-plus years nowhere near his own true age. She'd learn, just like he did because he'd teach her just how cruel humankind can be.

So he decided. He'd retreat enough to keep her out of the way of the fight. Defeat her brother, take over Vongola, and when she realized there was no help for this world he'd be there. They were more alike than she realized - he just needed to show her.

* * *

Deva = **God**

Naraka = **Hell**

**THANKS FOR READING! (^u^)/**

**Sorry it's been soooooooooooo long, I have a bunch of graduate essays to write, got caught up reading some super long fanfictions, and have been having trouble thinking of the interactions this chapter. I can't promise quick updates as writing comes to me in short quick bouts of inspiration, but I'll do my best and I'm happy you guys have been enjoying it!**

**Anyone else feel like it's weird to read Mukuro Rokudo instead of Rokudo Mukuro? I think the 2nd way flows way better on the tongue.**

**Review! Advice? Should I change anything?**

**1/7/20**


	11. Chapter 11

**Warnings: **Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

_Italicized words _= I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**Thank you to ALL YOU AMAZING PEEPS who have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! \\(^u^)/ It makes my day when I'm notified of a new follower/favoriter and I'm eager to read any and all reviews I get. **

**Special thanks to **_Merendinoemiliano, Eliwood, Fellow-Human9923, Megi Keishii, _**and **_Guest _**for reviewing the last chapter. **

**And **_Eliwood_ **I'm actually kinda happy you think Nade is so strong, but I just wanna remind you that canon-Tsuna was pretty weak in the beginning and there hasn't been a fight (till now) for Tsuna to show his awesomeness next to Nade. I think you'll like this chapter cuz BIG BRO TSUNA TO THE RESCUE! **

**Hope y'all like this chapter! Some minor corrections and add-ins were made to the previous chapters as well so if you notice those, I hope you guys like 'em.**

* * *

All he felt was pain.

Agonizing, muscle-aching pain. He barely escaped his sibling's and friends' attacks only to get bombed by the Mukuro-controlled Gokudera. Did Reborn shoot him? If he did, why was he still in so much pain? _Useless sadistic tutor. _He laid prone on the dusty wooden floor, vaguely aware of the ominous approach of his possessed sister.

Then the voices of his friends and loved ones entered his mind - criticisms, worries, prayers, and encouragements.

_Tsu-nii!_

He could hear Nade's call for help. He could feel her worry and her Flames pushing to reach his. But they felt like they were behind a glass wall. He could sense them, feel them, but they were ultimately blocked from his own reaching Flames by some force.

_Tsu-nii! Get up, please! _

_That's right,_ he thought. _Nade needs me. She's scared, so I have to help her. I'm her big brother and she needs me right now. Now's not the time to be dame, Dame-Tsuna._

He promised her he'd protect her and be there for her the day he realized that she couldn't be strong all the time - that day on the beach.

_**Flashback**_

_Loud guffaws echoed on the beach from one particular muscled blonde in bright orange swim trunks and a white tank top. Over one shoulder he carried a large rainbow beach umbrella and over the other a large tote filled with other beach necessities. _

"_Woo! Tsuna! Ko-chan! Today we are at Kioku Beach! Shall we go out to the water? Ne? Ne?" The excited gleam in his eyes blinded him from the obvious discomfort of one of his children. The four-year-old Nadeshiko had a firm clutch to the back of their mother's calf-length plum swing skirt. _

_For the seven-year-old Tsuna, it was the first time he's witnessed his little sister so upset. From the moment their Papa and Mama mentioned visiting the beach, he noticed how quiet Nade had gotten. Tsuna, on the other hand, was ecstatic to be visiting the beach again. The little he remembered from the last time his family visited the beach - just before his younger sibling was born - was filled with mostly good memories. The only bad part from what he could remember was when his Papa threw him up and down in the air as he stood knee-deep in the water. _

_The young brunette shivered briefly from that memory. He hoped that Nade made better memories than he did. Hopefully, their Papa would be nicer to her than he was to him since Nade was a girl. Papa said he did what he did - _and many other things_ \- to make Tsuna a strong man who can protect his little sis as he did for their Mama._

_He noticed as their parents set up the umbrella and mat that Nade's expression was blanking more and more. As soon as a towel was laid on the sand, his little sister curled up in a ball, wrapping her hands around her knees as she stared resolutely in the opposite direction of the ocean._

_He crouched beside her, "Nade, ar-?"_

"_C'mon, Ko-chan," yelled the rambunctious Young Lion of the Vongola, "This is your first time at the beach. Aren't you excited?"_

_Next thing either sibling knew, their overly enthusiastic father had the younger in his grasp and was approaching the body of blue. Nadeshiko's protests full of scratching, kicking, and vehement shouting were met with the oblivious brick wall of the CEDEF Head who only thought his daughter's actions represented her excitement to walk to the water herself. _

_A surge of protectiveness welled up inside the tenth-to-be as he watched his usually strong baby sister break down in tears as she looked down at the water she was held over by their ridiculous father. _

_Surprisingly, Tsuna ran toward the two without his customary clumsiness causing him to trip and tugged insistently on the orange trunks of their Papa. "Papa, put her down! Please? Nade's scared, Papa."_

_To say Iemitsu was shocked at his typically shy Tuna fish was an understatement. The brown eyes he was used to seeing on the young brunette glowed amber similar to their ancestors. He looked at the trembling child in his hands and was shocked by the acute fear he could now sense from his daughter. Immediately, he placed her back on the sand, "Sorry, Ko-chan. I -"_

"_Baka-Papa!" she cried as she ran to hug her older brother. The Lion rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Tsuna hugged her just as tightly and did his best to comfort her. Neither noticed when he left the two to calm down knowing that the harmonizing of his son's Sky flames would do more than he could at the moment. _

_After a few minutes, the young Vongola held his sister's hands and asked, "Nade, are you okay?"_

_He looked her in the eyes with an earnest gaze. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She was the elder mentally but felt like the toddler she physically was. "Ne, Nade, are you afraid of the ocean?"_

_Her silence and chagrined pout were telling._

"_That's okay!" She gave him a skeptical look. "It's okay, imouto. I'm always scared of everything, ya know, so, uh, it's okay."_

"_And," he continued, "You don't need to worry 'cause I'll help, okay, Nade? You don't need to worry 'cause I'll be with you always. I'll learn to swim, then you won't be afraid of the water. I promise I'll protect you..._

"_I promise." _

_**Flashback End**_

It was a childish promise that he at most times felt unnecessary when she seemed to always be two steps ahead of him, but he held the promise deep in his heart. He'd be strong when she couldn't be, even if he was scared or weak, he'd be strong for her. He promised.

Fighting past the ache in his limbs, his hands clenched tight as he slowly positioned himself to his knees. _Come on, Dame-Tsuna, you have to stand. She needs to know you're okay. Stand! For her, for Futa, for your friends. _

_STAND!_

A bright orange flame blazed on the forehead of the tenth-generation Vongola boss-to-be. His eyes glowed a bright amber reminiscent of his sisters as they connected unwaveringly to the red and blue eyes of his adversary.

"Mukuro...If I don't defeat you...I could never let myself die!"

* * *

_Why?!_ Mukuro internally fumed. He was so close to possessing the Vongola judaime. With the younger Sawada's weakening resistance, he reduced the constant flow of his own flames as he focused on controlling his other puppets. She had played her part in his plans and now he wanted her far from her brother, although that plan was getting less likely as his puppets were made useless.

He could feel their flames trying to resonate with each other and knew that the moment they did that his control over his fellow reincarnation would end and so reinstated his control on the girl.

_If only the Vongola would. Stop. MOVING._

First, Ken's attack was rendered useless with the judaime's counter and subsequent knockout. Then, Chikusa's illusion was seen through as his true location was discovered and in the next moment disabled. How the dubbed Dame of Nami Middle was this capable was baffling to the Mist-user.

Mukuro could feel his plans unraveling. The cursed infant's dialogue about the awakening of the Vongola's super intuition changed nothing though. It only meant he had to be craftier.

* * *

As Tsuna absorbed the attacks from Gokudera and Bianchi, he noticed how Mukuro kept Nadeshiko back towards the couch where everything began. _Sorry, Gokudera, Bianchi._ With a swift and hard chop to the nerves on the Italian siblings' necks, they were rendered unconscious.

"Reborn, treat them, alright?" The hitman's reply to his request background noise as his focus was on his last involuntary opponent.

The last of the controlled - his sister - stood confidently in a way so dissimilar to her usual confident posture it fed the flames of his anger and resolve.

"Kufufufu," the laugh felt so wrong coming from his sister, "This is the body of your sister. Can you attack her like you did your friends'? Her body's already exhausted, I can almost feel it," he taunted as if it wasn't his fault she was in that state to begin with.

"Release her, Mukuro Rokudo, or else." Tsuna's flames glowed brighter before the illusionist.

"Or else what? You'll cry?"

The brunette's expression didn't falter, "Or else I'll make your defeat hurt more than it has to."

The glare on his sister's face was twisted in irritation.

"Why don't you fight yourself, Mukuro? I know you're alive."

Out of the darkness emerged the indigo-haired criminal who walked as if everything was fine and he hadn't shot himself.

"Hm, perhaps you're right. Have you "sensed" that there is still a battle skill I haven't used? The fifth realm...the Human realm."

His monologue was continued by Nadeshiko, "Of all realms, it's easily the ugliest and most cruel. I'm not being cynical. I truly find this realm and this skill repulsive."

Mukuro picked up where she left off as a dark and suffocating aura surrounded his body and turned his right hand dark purple, "This Human realm truly is the ugliest and it holds the most dangerous skill. Unfortunately, I can't use this skill as dear Nadeshiko-chan, but even you can tell that the size of my aura matches my strength!" The illusionist charged and swung his trident overhead.

Tsuna visibly struggled to push back the weapon while Mukuro used his distraction to connect an uppercut to the Vongola's middle strong enough to lift the Vongola off the ground. Before his body began its descent, the previously immobile Nadeshiko flew over Mukuro and landed a no doubt painful sidekick that launched the teen across the room.

"Aren't you fragile? And here I am just warming up," Nadeshiko's face held an identical smirk to Mukuro.

"I sure hope you are. And didn't I tell you? If you didn't release my sister, I'd make your defeat hurt more than it has too. Since that seems to be the case now, I'd be disappointed if you didn't even put up a challenge." Tsuna gathered his hands by his forehead as his Sky flames spread to his now transformed gloves. Flames lighting up the room and contrasting significantly to the dark aura of the Mist-user. "My dying will flames aren't auras like yours, Mukuro. They burn."

"Oh, is that so? Care to show me?!" Similar to his previous attack, he came straight at the waiting Vongola heir, but unlike last time Tsuna caught the trident's swing effortlessly, bending the pole, and countering with his own punch.

It was only thanks to Mukuro's quick reaction that he managed to dodge the counter.

_It's hot!_

Expecting the Vongola to attack him head-on, Mukuro sliced at the teen as he approached only for the brunette to disappear in the blink of an eye. _He vanished!_

In the next moment, Mukuro felt a disorienting whiplash as the rest of his spirit was flung back into his body.

* * *

_This is the only opportunity, _Tsuna thought as he appeared in front of his sister.

The shocked expression on her face appeared as if in slow motion to him as he landed an open-handed strike pulsing with his flames to her forehead and knocking her back as gently as he could. Nadeshiko stumbled back and onto the floor. A groan was released by the young blonde as she brought a hand up to her forehead.

"Nade?" He couldn't sense Mukuro's presence in her anymore but remained cautious just in case.

"Tsu-nii?" She peeked up at him, wide-eyed and vulnerable before she came to the realization that she was finally free. A genuine smile broke across her face as tears of relief raced down her cheeks. She launched up and hugged him with all her might. Their flames resonated between them and encompassed them in a calming warmth that could only be felt through flame harmony.

"NO!" The siblings were shocked out of their reunion by the enraged roar. Suddenly, the purple-haired teen collected himself and let out an eerie cackle. "This was a miscalculation on my part. I was hoping that Nadeshiko-chan would remain in my control, but this is only a minor set back."

He drew himself up, "I've already explained my plan to Nadeshiko-chan. Possessing her was a worthwhile and _enlightening_ first step. Possessing _you_, the Vongola heir, would only be the beginning. My goal is much larger. I'd control the world leaders and use them to start a world war - painting this ugly world with pure and beautiful darkness. The annihilation of the Mafia is only my debut. So let's begin...You're mine!"

A dark specter was directed to attack the siblings. Tsuna was prepared for a second attack after dismissing the specter as an illusion, but Nade recognized the distraction for what it was. With the last of her strength, she erected her familiar barrier and blocked the rocks hidden under the illusion. "Tsuna!" her brother moved at her call, seemingly disappearing once again to appear behind the illusionist and deal a mean punch to knock him down into the ground.

Spent, Nadeshiko fell to her hands and knees as her barrier disintegrated into wisps. She did her best to remain awake if only to ensure Mukuro's defeat. From her position, it looked as though it was the end until she saw her brother turn his back to his still conscious assailant.

"Tsu-!" She tried to warn him but before she could Mukuro restrained her brother's hands and flung him toward the trident tip that was stuck in the wall from when the yoyo-user was knocked out. Unfortunately, no matter how much she wanted to move to help him it felt like massive weights were attached to her limbs and prevented her from getting up.

To her great relief, the brunette intuitively used his new X-Gloves to prevent his back from making contact with the blade and propelled himself toward the stupefied illusionist.

As Tsuna stood above the illusionist, his Flame retreated and his gloves returned to their mitten state. She drew closer to the two, or rather three after she saw that Reborn stood beside her brother. A part of her felt like her fellow reincarnated criminal deserved the beating he got, but another part of her worried for the old soul that was twisted from his terrible past.

"Don't touch him! The mafia's not allowed to touch Mukuro-san!" The just awakened Kokuyo criminals crawled closer with all their strength. Tsuna rightfully couldn't understand their loyalty to a person who possessed and used them despite their broken bodies.

When the one in the beanie stated they'd never understand, she accepted that. She figured that no one would understand her if they were never reincarnated with all their memories until Mukuro came along. But when they spoke in her mindscape, she could tell that his experiences were infinitely more painful and dark than hers were. While she could sympathize with his pain, she would never truly understand what he, and from the looks of it the other two Kokuyo students, went through to cause them to attack innocents and start a world war.

They spoke of inhumane experiments conducted on them by their own Family, the Estraneo, until the day Mukuro wiped them all out. Then they were free.

* * *

A chill ran down her back suddenly. She looked toward the room's entrance and saw three figures dressed in long black coats with white cravats around their necks and large black tophats. The most unsettling detail, she observed, was the figures' faces, or rather lack of faces as each figure's head was wrapped in pristine white bandages. They vaguely reminded her of an old-fashion version of the horror game character, Slenderman.

Her unease increased with Reborn's statement, "They got here fast."

Chains out of nowhere latched onto the necks of the Mukuro and his allies. _The Vindice_. Enforcers of the Mafia laws and punishers of those beyond the reach of criminal law. The police of the worst of the worst.

Tsuna and she had to watch with painful hearts as the lawbreakers were dragged away by their necks. _Is it wrong to pity your enemy?_ she pondered.

Nadeshiko only fully relaxed as the Vongola's medical team appeared and swiftly loaded the injured on to gurneys. Suddenly, her brother's body caught up with all the action it was put through and caused him to faint from the stress and pain.

"Good job, Tsuna, you cleared Vongola Ninth's test," congratulated the hitman.

"Some test, huh, Reborn-san," Nade tiredly commented and sighed.

"Rest now, Nadeshiko, you did a good job as well."

"'Good job'? I don't think getting kidnapped, possessed, and being utterly useless at the end of the fight doing a good job, you know."

"You gave me the hint I needed to figure out the reason for the attacks, fought to the best of your ability against an incredibly strong illusionist, and continued fighting till the end by protecting your brother with the last of your strength. I think that's a good enough reason to say you did a good job. I'll just have to train you and Dame-Tsuna more for next time."

"I don't think I want a next time, Reborn-san," she huffed.

"For now, rest. As your tutor, I'm also tired." And with that, the hitman rested against her brother's prone form and proceeded to nap. His signature snot bubble appearing as he slept with his eyes open.

"Yeah. Rest now. Train later," she mumbled tiredly and curled on the other side of her brother. "Night, Reborn."

* * *

_Kioku_ = **memory (so, Memory Beach lol)**

_Baka_ = **idiot (so, Idiot Papa)**

**THANKS FOR READING! (^u^)/**

**Took a bit of a break 'cuz of school and preparing for grad, but I'M BACK and glad to be back! I've decided on some plot points and character details that I hope you guys enjoy in the coming chapters as well. This story is always on my mind even if updates are constant or regular (sorry). **

**Was the beach memory written well? I thought Iemitsu's obliviousness was fitting to his character, but what do you guys think?**

**Review! I love to know what you guys think and it does encourage me to write faster!**

***heart***

**1/8/20**


	12. Chapter 12

**Warnings:** Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

_Italicized words _= I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**Thank you to ALL YOU AMAZING PEEPS who have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! \\(^u^)/ It makes my day when I'm notified of a new follower/favoriter and I'm eager to read any and all reviews I get. **

**Special thanks to **_HuangBaiLian, merendinoemiliano, Megi Keishii, Crystal Blue Butterfly, _**and**_ LyriaHart _**for reviewing the last chapter. **

**To **_HuangBaiLian: _**HERE YA GO! **

**To **_merendinoemiliano_: **Sorry this is a late :P but happy new year as well \\(^u^)/**

**To **_Megi Keishii_:** Definitely check on Hibari and eat recovery cake LOL. **

**To **_Crystal Blue Butterfly_:** Just saying, but when I was getting notification after notification of your reviews it really made my day (^/^). From the Reborn Wiki, it says that Futa is 9 years old so IDK if I'll specify what exactly his age is, just that he is slightly younger than Nade and will look up to her like an older sister. Nade's pretty mature so it's not hard for him to see her like that, plus he enjoys being cared for by her. **_**Hint hint I have plans for their relationship mwahahaha**_**. Yes, Nade did make the bracelet. Whether fully by Misty means or some artistic maneuvering is your choice! I think my favorite review from you was for Chapter 9, it really makes me laugh! Thanks for leaving some thorough reviews, they were awesome to read!**

**To **_LyriaHart:_** NOW! Hope you enjoy it!**

**Also, I just realized how weird the timeline is b/c the anime and the manga aren't exactly the same. I'm pretty sure Japan schools start in Spring, yet I said that cherry blossoms weren't in season yet since I based the scene on the Anime. In that case, the Kokuyo incident can't occur from mid-March to mid-April. Therefore, school started April 14th, the end of the cherry blossom season, Kokuyo happening sometime in May and June. And Summer vacation is from the late-July to late-August, then restarts September to December, then winter vacation till January. Gosh, the Japanese schedule gets me so confused sometimes? So Nade is, as mentioned, a first-year, Tsuna is a second year, and Hibari & Ryohei are third-years. I'm gonna give our heroine and heroes some break time, Kyoya/Nade time, and summer vacation. Spoiler, not getting to Varia in this chap but definitely happening in the next.**

**Sorry, it's taken so long (slight writer's block + thinking of my other story) - ENJOY!**

* * *

_Ugh, I feel like I've been sat on, chewed up, wrung out and left on the spin cycle. _A throbbing headache greeted Nadeshiko before she had even opened her eyes. Her face scrunched up as she willed herself to wake up. She groaned as the fluorescent lights of the hospital briefly blinded her; causing another wave of throbs to pound through her head.

"Good evening, Hime-chan!" crooned the annoyingly familiar voice of one Dr. Shamal. "How are you feeling?"

"_Evening_? What time is it? No. What day?" She croaked. Swallowing only made her throat feel drier. The brown-haired doctor helped prop her up so she had a better angle to drink the water he guided to her lips after witnessing her shaking fingers grasping the cup he gave her. She cleared her throat, "So, what happened?"

He studied the young girl in front of him silently. Just when she was about to repeat her question he answered, "It's been about a day since the Kokuyo incident and the apprehension of Mukuro Rokudo's gang of criminals. Visiting hours were over an hour ago, so Nana-san and the children went back home to rest. Reborn told your mother that everyone went camping to have fun and relax because of the attacks and exhausted themselves after all that 'fun'."

"_That_ is a very shallow excuse."

He shrugged as if to say 'what can ya do.' "It worked."

"And, anything else? How are Tsu-nii, Hibari-san, Futa-kun, and the others?" The last she remembered was the Vongola medical team loading the injured onto gurneys and her brother passing out from the pain of his new Dying Will mode. From what she could see from her position, the only other bed in the room was empty.

"Ah, the Vongola Judaime and his friends are all recovering a couple of rooms away. No one had anything really life-threatening, although that scary friend of yours was _really _pushing it. He had broken bones _on top_ of broken bones and yet acts like he can go back to beating up - _cough,_ excuse me, _disciplining_ \- troublemakers with the way he never says a word about the pain he's likely in."

Nadeshiko could feel herself sweatdropping at the behavior of her childhood friend. At least her initial worry was replaced with a sigh of relief. _Everyone is okay_.

"As for _you_," he gave her a level look, "your body and mind are exhausted from Mukuro's mind control and your excessive Flame use. Ranking Futa and you are young, and the continuous onslaught on your minds will lead to some minor headaches for the next few days as well as a possible stunt to your bodies' growth from the stress. I'm confident though that the two of you will have no permanent damage. You, especially, because of your Cloud flames. Cloud users are the next best healers after Sun users, and Mists who deny their injuries with illusions."

_Well, I guess that explains why I woke up feeling like I'm hungover. _

"Get some more sleep, Hime-chan. I'm sure you'll have some visitors in the morning. I'll notify the staff in the morning that you woke up." His usual perverted smile was replaced with a warmer, reassuring smile as he brought up a hand to gently cover her eyes. "_Buonanotte e sogni d'oro_, Vongola-hime. (Good night and sweet dreams)"

A whisper of thanks left her lips as she drifted off to a restful sleep with the unsaid promise of protection from the lethal assassin. She was safe and her loved ones were safe. And that was all she could ask for.

* * *

A murmur outside her room's door roused the young mist user to consciousness.

She heard the swish and clack as the door was opened abruptly, "NEE-CHAN! Lambo-sama has come to see you!"

"Lambo! Quiet! Nade-nee is hurt," scolded the Chinese martial artist. The toddlers jumped onto her bed and greeted her with a hug.

"Ara, Lambo, I-pin, careful now. Your Nade-nee is injured right now. Good morning, Nade-chan, how are you feeling?"

"Better Mama." Her poor mother must be so worried after finding out her children and their friends were all hospitalized, so she only hoped the smile she exchanged with her was enough to assuage her concerns.

What followed was an update of the state of her brother and friends from her happy-go-lucky mother with random interjections from the energetic Lambo and I-pin. At some point, Shamal returned to check up on her and when finished retreated to lean against the wall - slightly out of sight, but never out of mind - and watched with a thoughtful expression.

…

Her mama and the others recently left to visit Tsuna's room and so she was left alone. It was still quite early in the day, not even time for lunch yet. Unfortunately, with no hospital roommate, she found herself growing bored and a bit lonely. Thankfully, her mother had brought her some books to read during her stay.

As Nadeshiko was about to start reading a book she's reread at least four other times the door to her room abruptly opened...again. She jumped up, startled, and almost threw her book at the offender until a familiar set of silver eyes and dark hair made her pause.

"Hn," was all he said as he stepped in. She noticed the prefect was dressed in black satin pajamas with a button-up shirt. She silently envied the comfy looking pajamas as she watched him head straight to the empty bed of her non-existent roommate; a near silent poof was heard as he collapsed face forward into the bed. Her navy blue short-sleeve button-up shirt paired with matching bird-patterned, powder blue pants were, for the most part, very comfy _and_ cute.

"Good morning to you too, Kyoya," she teased, "You look better than the last time I saw you. Did you escape your room?"

Her teasing was met with a grumpy glare, "Herbivores were crowding in my room and kept failing at the game I proposed." She eyed the smug shine in her friend's eyes and snorted. _Sure he may have proposed the game, but I doubt they were willing participants._

"And you came _here_ because…"

"Hn, _Machiko, _you sound like you don't want me here."

"Hn, _Hibari_, you should be resting. _Not_ beating up some poor souls and walking around."

"I'm fine."

"Uhuh, _sure _you are."

Cue grumpy glare 2.0. _Oooh, he added a frown, _she snickered internally. His glare then softened to what Nadeshiko perceived as genuine concern. "Are you?"

She looked at him confused, "'Am I', what?"

"Fine."

"...yeah. Headache and exhaustion. At least that's what Shamal-sensei told me." The raised eyebrow he gave her spoke plenty of his belief, or rather _disbelief_, of her status. "I am _fine. _I promise."

*clack*clack* "_Hibari! Hibari!"_

_Eh?_ Nadeshiko heard the high pitched call coming from the window, but couldn't see what or who called due to the drawn blinds. Kyoya seemed to perk up, though none but Nade could tell based on his aura rather than his actual expression. Not seeing the lazy prefect move, she got out of bed and rose the blinds only to be greeted by the adorable sight of a yellow fluff ball.

"_Hibari! Hibari!" Awww, it's calling for Kyoya._

She slid open the window just enough for the little bird to hop in and watched as it flew to the still immobile prefect's head and burrowed itself in his hair.

"When did you get a bird?" She wondered if the bird was part canary based on its yellow coloring.

Finally, he shifted to lie on his back - the bird hopping a bit to remain in place as he flipped over. "During Kokuyo." The usually intimidating Disciplinary Head smiled as he pet the crown of the bird now perched on his bangs.

_That. Is. Adorable._

"What's its name?" _Did he name it carnivore or something? That'd be hilarious._

"..."

"Eh?! Seriously, Kyoya? You haven't thought of one yet?"

"..."

"_Hibari! Hibari!"_

"...what about Hibird? That sounds kinda cute, ne? Part of your name so it satisfies your narcissistic side and also means 'sun' for its yellow feathers." While her harmless gibe was met with a frown, he did seem to accept the name.

She tucked herself back into her bed, propped up the pillows behind her, and laid her book on her lap. The newly dubbed Hibird flew over and nestled itself on her shoulder. It rubbed its head against her cheek. "Nice to meet you, Hibird! My name is- "

"_Mashiko," _interrupted Hibari.

"_Mashiko! Mashiko!"_

"Hey!" she glowered at the satisfied smirk on the ravenette's face. Nade could only roll her eyes.

Figuring that they had a couple hours until food for lunch would be delivered, Nadeshiko turned to her book as her friend began to doze off beside her and his bird continued to use her as a perch. Her narration of the story a soothing background for the napping teen and his new partner.

* * *

The hallways were dimly lit. Little noise made as most of the floor's occupants were asleep except for the light brown-haired boy curled up on his bed. He remembered being kidnapped by the purple-haired man and waking up in a dilapidated room alone. He remembered being asked - _forced_ \- to rank Tsuna-nii's and Nade-nee's Family. To betray them - _or else_. But he didn't_._ He _didn't._

And then there was darkness, and people were still getting hurt. His new brother's and sister's friends were getting hurt. And it was _his_ fault. He wasn't strong enough to stop the Mist man and his henchmen from taking his ranking book and tearing out his ranking for the strongest in Namimori. He wasn't strong enough to fight the possession. He wasn't strong enough to stop himself from _stabbing_ Bianchi-nee.

All he did was invoke _Omerta_ \- the Vow of Silence. What good that did to help.

Nade-nee got taken because she tried to help him. She got hurt because he wasn't strong enough to escape. Even though Tsuna-nii said it wasn't his fault, deep down he knew it was.

*knock*knock*knock*

The little star's head shot up and faced the door that was quietly opened. "Futa-kun? Are you awake?"

"Nade…-nee?"

"Long time no see, Futa-kun. I've been wanting to check up on you for a _while_, but kept getting stopped by some of the nurses every time I left my room," her eyes rolled as she gave him a wry smile, "Apparently, I'm not as scary as Kyoya," she joked. Despite the only light being from the faint glow of the moon, Futa thought that his Nee-chan shone so brightly. She always did. Being around her made him feel like he belonged. She was like the sky - all-encompassing and inviting.

He quickly tucked his head back into his arms and knees. _I don't deserve-_

He could hear her approach him calmly and sit on the edge of the bed. "Futa-kun, can you tell me the truth?" _The truth? _"How are you?" _Fine._ "You must have been so afraid." _I was._ " I'm so sorry it took us so long to help you, Futa." _Don't be sorry. _"But it's all right now. You're alright. You're safe now."

The faraway sounds of machines and nurses chatting could be heard past the door. As Nadeshiko waited for the other to speak she thought back to their similar experience. There were moments when she was under Mukuro's control that she could feel Futa's Flames - small red sparks flickering against a massive purple inferno. They struggled so hard for so long. She's ashamed to admit she was so pathetically weak she couldn't protect her newest younger brother.

While she hated what Mukuro did to her loved ones, she did feel some sort of companionship with her fellow reincarnation. She felt conflicted. How could she have any sort of positive feelings toward Mukuro after what he did to Futa? But then how could she hate someone whose strongest experience was in hate and pain? She was fortunate to be born into a caring family in both lives. Now, she could only hope that Futa would be able to overcome his ordeal.

"...it's my fault."

If it wasn't so quiet in the room, Nadeshiko didn't think she would have heard the whispered words.

"It's my fault," he repeated.

"No, Futa, it's not. I _promise_ it's-"

"IT'S MY FAULT!" he wailed. "It's all my fault! If it wasn't for my rankings no one would have gotten hurt! If I could have fought harder or gotten away then you and Tsuna-nii and everyone wouldn't have had to rescue me. A-and now…

"_I can't hear the Ranking Star!"_

His breaths came out as gasps, "I-I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I-I don't deserve to call you my nee-chan. I don't deserve to be part of your family or Famiglia. I'm sorry. _I'm sorry. _I-"

A fierce hug cut off his apologetic spiel. "_No, _Futa it's not your fault."

"But-"

"_**No**_. _You_ are **not** to blame. What happened was because of Mukuro and his gang. They _forced_ you to do things you _didn't_ want to with _mind control._ Mukuro is a _very_ strong Mist user that even _I_ couldn't fight off and you told me I was ranked third for in my potential to become a strong Mist user. And it's _not _your fault any of the attacks happened. Even if Mukuro had never gotten your rankings he would have simply had his goons attacked any of Namimori's students. At least the ones they attacked had _some_ chance to fight back."

Nade gently took his face in her hands to meet his wide-eyed stare - tears flowing down his cheeks. She softly wiped them away with her thumbs. "Futa, you fought as much as you could. You took a Vow of Silence to_ protect _us in the only way you knew how. You're my _otouto_. You're Tsuna's _otouto._ You became part of our family the moment you followed me home after I found you in Rui's doghouse."

"But what-what if I never hear the Ranking Star again? I've always heard the Ranking Star - _always._"

She took a calming breath before answering, "I'll be honest Futa, I can't guarantee if you ever will. But maybe the Ranking Star is allowing you to take a break. As you've said, you've ranked for as long as you can remember and then you were forced into a terrible situation because of it. Give it some time, ne? Enjoy the childhood that you've missed out on from growing up in the Mafia.

"Just remember, it's _okay_ if you can't hear the Ranking Star because that's not _why _we want you around. We love and care for you - Mama, Tsuna, me, Lambo, and I-pin just to name a few - because you're _you_, not because you can accurately rank things."

The small red spark from before finally began to grow into the flame it was meant to be. Unknown to either of them tendrils of orange flames enveloped and nurtured the red while a minute wisp of purple hovered along the edges.

* * *

Everyone's recovery was swift and for the most part painless - aside from anyone who wasn't Nade in the presence of one bored Kyoya Hibari - and were able to leave the hospital after a few days to rest in their own homes.

Shamal was a regular visitor who often took over her medical care, as well as her family and an impatient Futa when she didn't sneak out of her room fast enough. Tsuna hadn't woken up until their second night in the hospital and has since recovered to 100% thanks to Reborn's tender loving - _cough_ \- encouragements.

Tsuna was happy to be home. Nadeshiko was happy to be home. Everything was back to normal.

"_YATTA_!"

Tsuna who was sitting at the kitchen table and Nade who was sprawled out on the couch jumped up at the loud cheer from their mother. Nadeshiko flung into a sitting position and turned her head to her brother at the exact same time he did.

"Mama?"

"I won the grand prize in the raffle attached to the tea bottle! It's a luxury cruise trip to a tropical paradise for a family of three!" informed their mother.

Tsuna's elation after hearing of a prize dulled at the mention of the cruise. "A ship? I get seasick, why don't you and Nade take someone else?"

Nana determinedly reassured Tsuna of the amazing tropical experience awaiting them while Nadeshiko was dreading any sort of ocean adventure. _Yeah, no._ "Mama, I think I'll stick this one out. I don't want to be stuck in the middle of the ocean stranded on some metal deathtrap. Bring Reborn or something." Her proposal made Tsuna look at her as if she betrayed him.

"Nade-chan," she sang, "You should come too! I promise it will be amazing with yummy high-class food-

"Yes, but-"

"-and soft beds-"

"I know, but-"

"-and fancy events, casinos, and concerts! You'll love it and completely forget you're on a boat!"

"If I'm going, you're going Nade. Don't worry and just have fun." The look he gave her told her he knew what she was worried about and that he wouldn't let anything bad happen.

She consented.

…

Reborn and Bianchi assured us that they had nothing to worry about when they left for the cruise.

They were _so_ naive.

She should have already known that a free cruise was a fishy deal. Evidently, the cruise _was _technically free but was headed to a secret island called Mafia Land. _Mafia _Land. A place where mafiosos and criminals who don't deal drugs were free to relax with their families on the island's beaches, amusement parks, and amenities. A neutral ground maintained by the funding of various Famiglia's and criminal organizations.

The group meant to stay at home - Reborn, Bianchi, Futa, Lambo, and I-pin made their own arrangements to get to Mafia Land without the two siblings knowing. Her poor Nii-chan was running around the ship trying to round up our Family in an chaotic hide-and-seek game thanks to Reborn leading Tsuna into thinking the guards running around the ship were after them.

Lambo, I-pin, and Futa, to Tsuna's chagrin, were attached to the hip to their Nade-nee who had taken them to the ship's upper deck so they could enjoy the pool. He decided to leave them for last, trusting his _imouto_ to corral that group as he searched for Bianchi and Reborn.

Imagine his surprise at finding his friends hiding in the lowest deck of the ship eating bowls of instant ramen beside pig pens. "EH?! Gokudera-kun?! Yamamoto?!"

"Judaime, I'm so amazed you were able to find me! You searched for me?"

"That's...I was searching for Reborn, but...whatever." The Vongola Tenth knew his words would just go over his silver-haired friend's head and just asked why they were even there and how they had gotten on the ship without anyone knowing.

Yamamoto let out a carefree laugh, "Gokudera and I tried sneaking through a passage toward the back of the ship, but then some guards tried to stop us so Gokudera threw some fireworks to distract them."

_They bombed the guards?!_

"Don't worry, Judaime! As your right-hand man I'll always be by your side!"

The brunette let out a defeated sigh, "That's not the point…"

* * *

"Tsuna, you have to do the preparations for entering the island. Go to the front desk and tell them that you've arrived because you're our representative."

"Tsu-nii, do you want me to come with you?" Nadeshiko felt bad for her brother. This was supposed to be a time for him to relax and instead he's still getting heaped with responsibility after responsibility because of Reborn.

Tsuna was really thankful to have a sibling like Nade. When it was their turn at the desk, Tsuna handled stating their name and Vongola association. What neither sibling expected was the verification of an invitation or recommendation to the island.

"We're with the Vongola Famiglia, I doubt just anyone would claim that name. We also came here with Reborn, the #1 hitman in the world. Is this not enough to prove our claims?" _This is _all_ Reborn's fault, _she thought.

"No invitation means we'll have to check your qualification as Mafia." The fact that the woman at the front desk didn't even look up from her laptop only added to the annoyance beginning to grow in the blonde.

"_Great_," she grumbled.

Tsuna, on the other hand, grew nervous as the woman then directed him - and only him - to a private room where a large man who looked like an old-fashioned business villain sat in a large leather chair.

Nadeshiko waited outside for her brother to finish the Mafia Test, basking in the sun as she leaned against the wall and fanned herself with a visitor's brochure of the island.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Reborn followed by Yamamoto and Gokudera walking toward her position. "Reborn-san?"

"Ciaossu, Nade. Tsuna is going to do some training with a friend of mine who lives on the island. Gokudera and Yamamoto will be joining him as his Family so you can head back to Maman and the others."

Nadeshiko acknowledged the suggestion as more as an order. Her brother's friends bickered a couple of feet away as she crouched down to the hitman's level. "Reborn, this was _supposed_ to be a vacation for Tsu-nii. I'm _pretty_ sure training isn't in the description of a vacation."

"Training must be done anytime, _anywhere_, and Tsuna should always remember that."

"Just.._.please_ give him a break at some point to enjoy the island too, Reborn-san."

His answering smirk was not at all comforting.

* * *

Shots from what Nadeshiko guess were cannons shook the island.

One moment Nade was spinning on the teacups with Futa, Lambo, and I-pin - she left the spinning to her crazy little boys as she kept I-pin from flying out of the cup - and the next they were swept up in a wave of people toward the island's castle.

From what she could see, Families were grouping together and gathering supplies to fight off the attack. Subtle use of her Mist flames diverted her mother's gaze from noticing the _very real looking_ gun 'props'. To her dismay, her mother still caught on that the majority of the people in the castle were going to fight off the Mafia, but thought it was just an event.

She didn't know if she should feel disappointed or relieved that her mother's obliviousness knew no bounds sometimes.

At some point, while Nade was focusing on making a perimeter of Mist flames - _Too. Much. Crowding._ \- Tsuna had arrived with Gokudera and Yamamoto. Based on the dumbfounded expression on his face, she figured he heard their mother's thoughts on the, in her words, 'neat event everyone's participating in! So exciting!'. Bianchi left to protect their mom and the kids as they left to help prepare food for the eventual victors' celebration.

Approaching her brother, who noticeably was without his sadistic hitman of a tutor, she watched as he grew more and more distressed as the mafioso eagerly chatted with each other as they prepared to fight off the attacking Famiglia.

"Tsu-nii!" she weaved through the crowd that seemed to be growing more and more restless.

"Ah! Nade! There you are," he sighed with relief.

"Where's Reborn-san?" she asked the three.

He wilted further and whined, "Reborns taking a nap with his friend."

"Friend?"

"A weird friend of Reborn who's also a baby, is part of the military, and has a pet falcon," he said in a dry tone. _Another Arcobaleno?_ She had asked Reborn what the term meant exactly after hearing it used by Mukuro; he said it meant 'rainbow' and any who held the moniker was one of the seven strongest infants - one 'baby' for each Flame type.

"THIS BATTLE SHOULD BE LED BY US, THE NERO FAMILY WHO CONTROLS ASIA! ANY OBJECTIONS?!"

"WAIT! WE, THE BECCIO FAMILY, SHOULD BE MAKING THE CALLS BECAUSE OF OUR HISTORY OF TRADITION AND RULES!"

"BACK-COUNTRY HICKS SHOULD STEP ASIDE! THE NUBO GANG FROM NEW YORK SHOULD LEAD!

Whoever started this battle of who has the biggest balls was at the top of Nade's Sick-Kyoya-At List. They were loud and obnoxious. Nade no likey. Guns and blades were beginning to be pulled out by people who were supposed to be working together for the common cause.

"TCH, JUDAIME SHOULD LEAD YOU PLEBEIANS!" _Gokudera-san, _she only noticed she had smacked herself when she was in the process of removing her hand from supporting her head.

"Judaime? Which unknown family do you come from that you think a pompous kid like you deserves to be called a nickname like 'Tenth'?" jeered the boss of the Beccio Family at the silverette.

"We're the Vongola! Gotta problem with _that_?" challenged the bomber. _Now you've done it._

Immediately, a hush fell over the previously rowdy crowd and next thing either sibling knew, Tsuna was leading the defense.

* * *

"Well...this _could_ be worse."

"Oh, really, because_ I_ think IT'S _ALREADY_ THE WORSE!" The brunette screamed as he was carried to the front lines by a group of mafiosos.

"Don't worry, Tsu-nii, I'll watch your back." Her customary two-finger salute did little to nothing to calm his anxiety. She hid herself in a layer of Mist flames from all but her brother, fluttering above the group as they rallied to fight the invaders.

Gokudera was - funnily enough - leading the charge; his bombs the perfect weapon to clear a path for the defense. Yamamoto ran beside the mafiosos holding up Tsuna and batting away the strays that made it past his friend.

Suddenly, she dodge out of the way of an approaching mass that entered her peripheral. A body? The Mafia Land 'team' entered the forest where all the bodies were flying in from and were greeted by a baby-sized figure wearing a purple jumpsuit and a white helmet that obscured the eyes. Dividing the helmet into three was a purple stripe containing the dark silhouette of an octopus.

Nadeshiko recognized the pacifier, not the familiar yellow of Reborn's but an even more familiar purple color to her - Cloud flames. _So this is the Arcobaleno for Cloud, _she observed. _He must be as strong as Reborn._

She watched from her perch in the air as the mafiosos' bullets were blocked by a gigantic red octopus outfitted with black armor and restraints. With subtle finger movements from the Arcobaleno, the octopus attacked and threw one mafioso after another.

She absently noted Tsuna denying reality and believing the octopus was a figment of his imagination or that he was in a dream.

So far, Nade was impressed. Skull had a super cool animal companion like Leon, he was winning against a larger force and wasn't wasting excessive energy against his opponents.

"Who's turn is it next?" he taunted. His overly confident high pitched voice, however, was almost as annoying as Lambo's usually is during a tantrum.

"What, you still haven't eaten the octopus yet? Like I said before, I'm sure it'll taste really good."

All the bravado she witnessed disintegrated in the presence of the number one hitman who was perched on a tree branch overlooking the area. "W-Why is Reborn-senpai here?" She could hear his voice shake in terror.

She watched Reborn tease, trick, and beat the other with only one bullet to enlarge the hand he used for commanding the octopus. What happened afterward - a solid beat down of Skull, reminiscent of the ones she's watched Kyoya deal out - only proved to the Sawada siblings that Reborn was truly the number one hitman.

Seeing Reborn's fellow Arcobaleno, Colonello -_ blue pacifier, Rain Arcobaleno_ \- blow up the Calcassa Famiglia's battleship just proved how deadly and powerful these strongest seven truly were.

_So what made them become babies? _

* * *

"The sea~!"

Tsuna regrettably wasn't able to enjoy the luxury cruise nor the Mafia Land amusement park because of the crazy stuff Reborn made him go through, but now he had a second chance. The beach!

He did feel a bit sorry for Nade though. She reassured him that she'd be alright, but as soon as they were dropped off by their mother her face paled. He hoped she would be okay while Kyoko and her changed into their swimsuits.

"Sorry for the wait! We're done changing!" _Kyoko-chan is super cute! Thank you Ryohei-niisan for inviting us!_ Tsuna felt like he could die right now and be completely okay with it. He was spending a day with Kyoko-chan, his friends, and his sister.

"Eh? Where's Nade?"

"...here…" Tsuna was startled by the sudden and solemn presence of his little sister who he hadn't even noticed was hiding behind Kyoko.

"Nade, are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "Just...I'll stick by our stuff while you guys enjoy the water, ne?" She didn't want to dampen Tsuna's day. She'd deal with her memories and happily play the 'mother' role in the group as long as she didn't need to go into the water.

He relented but made a mental note to check up on her every so often.

Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Kyoko left to find Ryohei who Kyoko said was helping some upperclassmen lifeguard for the summer.

Nadeshiko was laying belly down on the sunny portion of the beach blanket they laid out. She didn't do it for the tan, but for the warmth she felt on her back as she rested her head on her palm and read a book. She hoped the story would be enough to distract her from her environment.

Plus, her white sleeveless hoodie protected her back from getting sunburned - so warmth plus book plus no consequences equal a happy Nade.

A shadow in the form of a person fell over her text when she was a quarter of the way through the book. She figured whoever it was, was likely talking to someone and just stopped in a place that perfectly blocked the sun for her so she'd just wait until they moved so she could continue reading. She _could_ still read she supposed - _And then he gives me a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with -_

*cough*cough*

-_just the right touch of shyness that-_

*cough*cough*

-_unexpected warmth rushes through me.-_

"Excuse me?"

She couldn't ignore whoever was interrupting her story anymore. She held back a sigh and looked up with her amber eyes, "Yes?"

"Hey! You're pretty cute! Why don't you join my friends and I surfing?" The guy had a cocky smile on his face.

"No, thank you." Keep it short. Keep it polite. And hope he got the idea she wasn't interested.

"Aw, c'mon, cutie. My name's Ichiro. We'll have lots of fun hanging out together!" _He doesn't get it._

"I'm _really_ fine just reading here and enjoying some quiet, _alone_ time, Ichiro-san."

"Psh, you don't know what you're missing out on. I bet you're just playing coy. There's no need to," he said so self-assuredly, "A girl like you who dyes their hair blonde no doubt has a wild side. Let's go!" He leaned in closer and appeared as if he'd reach for her hand when he was suddenly gone.

No, not gone - flung away. Or was he punted away?

Why?

Kyoya Hibari. His black hair tousled up more than usual. He towered over her prone form with a short-sleeved white button-up draped on his shoulders like his gakuran usually was and solid black swim trunks.

"Kyoya?"

"Hn, _Machiko_."

"_You're_ at the beach?" She looked at him incredulously.

"I can enjoy the beach too, _Machiko. _As long as I'm not crowded, then everything is fine." She looked around and noticed how their spot suddenly had a radius large enough to fit two other groups in all directions. _The power of a Kyoya Hibari,_ she remarked.

"Lucky for you, there is currently no one around my beach blanket now. Did you come with Kusakabe-san?" She twisted on her stomach trying to see if their Disciplinary vice-leader was around or any of the other Committee members.

"Tetsu is bringing some beach chairs while I found a spot." He glanced side to side then settled beside her in the shaded part of the beach blanket. He closed his eyes and brought his arms up to cradle his head.

"_Hovering over green from Namimori lain with verdure."_

"No. Kyoya, you didn't," she gaped at her friend.

He raised one of his eyebrows as if he didn't know what she was talking about - his eyes remaining closed. "You taught Hibird the school's anthem? Seriously?!"

His eyes were still shut as a self-satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"You're unbelievable!" she laughed.

Hibird gently landed between Kyoya and her. The little bird hopped up and down making an indent in the sand through the blanket, and once satisfied, wiggled into its temporary nest.

Kyoya napped with Hibird, Nade read and sunbathed, eventually Tetsu arrived with some chairs and placed those closeby in case Kyoya decided to move - he didn't.

Then her brother and his friends returned.

"Nade, how're you doing - _Hie!_ Hibari-san?!"

* * *

_Otouto_ =** little brother**

_Imouto_ = **little sister**

_Yatta _=** hooray**

_Judaime_ = **Tenth**

_Senpai_ = **upperclassman**

**So, does anybody have an idea of what my plans are for Nade? Or what book she was reading?**

**AAAAH I'm so excited to start Varia in the next chapter! If anyone was wondering, Nade cannot and will not be Tsuna's Mist b/c in my opinion they've bonded as siblings and as fellow Skies. **

**While I don't reply to reviews until the next chapters, I do reply as soon as I can to any PMs I get. So if you ever want to ask me questions or anything feel free to for an immediate response (^u^)/.**

**Thanks for all your support everyone! Every fave, follow, and REVIEW makes my day!**

**1/30/20**


	13. Chapter 13

**Warnings: Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR. **

_Italicized words _**= I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry. **

**Thank you to ALL YOU READERS who have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! \\(^u^)/ It makes my day when I'm notified of a new follower/favoriter and I'm eager to read any and all reviews I get. **

**Special thanks to**_ merendinoemiliano, Megi Keishii, Crystal Blue Butterfly, LyriaHart _**and **_CassieInTheDark _**for reviewing the last chapter! **

**What's been taking me so long was deciding what should happen when Nade, Basil, and Squalo meet. Should they be separate from Tsuna's group? How does Nade affect the scene? Should I introduce her chosen weapon yet? How does Basil address Nade since he calls Tsuna 'Sawada-dono' kind of meaning Lord Sawada? Should she receive **_**her**_** ring? Etc. etc. etc. **

**To **_CassieInTheDark_**: I was considering chakrams for soooooo long and thought I had decided on another weapon (a 3-section staff), but then you've got me thinking of it again (=o=) and I'm pretty sure I will go that direction so kudos to you. Thanks for your suggestions!**

**Hope you like my decisions! **

***WARNING* some cursing from our wonderful Varia. I'm sorry…. (=_=)**

* * *

"EEEEHHHH?!"

_What's got Tsu-nii's panties in a twist this time?_ She wondered as she finished changing into her uniform. The Namimori Fall uniform consisted of the typical long-sleeved white blouse, a plain navy sweater (vest, button-up, or cardigan), and a dark brown khaki skirt. The whole look was pulled together with a red bowtie. She felt like it was an oversized button-up sweater kind of day then slipped on her Disciplinary Committee armband.

Nadeshiko finished her braids as she sauntered down the stairs to join the rest of the family.

"He's finally been found?!" her brother screeched.

"Who's finally been found?" she asked. She was momentarily stunned by the buffet their mother cooked and was determined to add to with more dishes.

"_Tou-san_, Nade! Kaa-chan said he disappeared when we were little and now she's saying he's coming back!" Her brother looked like he was about to tear out all his hair at any moment.

"Goodness, Tsuna! You honestly thought he disappeared? Who do you think pays for your school and food?" stated their mother.

The realization of our father's survival shocked her brother more than it should have. _If our idiot Papa hadn't told Mama to tell us he disappeared and 'became one with the stars' then Tsu-nii wouldn't have believed we were fatherless. I hoped that Tsuna would have caught on at some point, but this just goes to show how gullible he still is. Oh, Nii-chan. _She truly felt like shaking her head at the situation but - _barely _\- refrained.

She leaned in with her brother as their mother showed them the postcard their father recently sent. A short message written in a thick black marker - Be back soon. Dad. - was plastered over an arctic scenery of icebergs and penguins. _Stupid Papa, it's like he's not even trying to make it believable._

She grabbed a few morsels from the buffet and their school bags and dragged Tsuna out of the house to meet up with his friends on the way to school.

* * *

"Nade, how can you be so calm about this? Tou-san's been gone for two years and all that time I thought he was _dead_ and now he's just coming back from working from who knows where!"

"Tsu-nii, I knew Papa was still alive," before he could interrupt her she continued, "but I shouldn't have been the one to tell you this. Papa should have. Or at least Mama, but you know how she is about Papa. The morning after Reborn showed up I even asked him if Papa had anything to do with the mafia."

She noticed the moment he comprehended her last statement. "Then-"

"He's part of the mafia. I don't know how exactly, but it's more than just a Vongola blood connection to the Primo. He works for the Vongola family. If you remembered, Papa's construction job is under a company called Vongola. It's obvious he hasn't told Mama yet. When he's back, I wanted to ask him to come clean to her about this because our family should have never been left in the dark about the mafia."

"Eh? But it's not safe if she knows! It's-"

"It'll _still_ be dangerous whether or not she knows!" she yelled. "Do you know how much danger we're in just being _related_ to someone in the mafia? I don't, but I bet an assassin wouldn't care if we're civilians or not if they wanted to hurt Papa. And what if he actually _did_ die? We would have had no idea how or why or when. Would they have sent someone like they do for soldiers who've died overseas or would they have just kept supplying Mama money for school and food until we both became adults without telling us anything? Only _now_ did I even hear she keeps in contact with him, but that doesn't change how dangerous being related to someone in the mafia is and not knowing the truth."

She only noticed her tears when her brother gently cradled her head into his chest and they soaked his chest. "I understand, Nade. You're right. Kaa-chan should know and Tou-san should be the one to tell her. I'm just worried. I don't want to be the Vongola Juudaime, and I wish you didn't have to be a part of this too, yet Reborn is determined to make me the successor."

She backed up from him after a final squeeze of thanks. "You'd be a wonderful boss, Tsu-nii. Don't doubt that." His answering grimace made her giggle.

* * *

A little while later, Gokudera and Yamamoto joined up with the siblings. Tsuna regaled them with the news of their absent father returning after two years. Neither Nadeshiko nor Tsuna felt much joy at his pending return especially after the talk they just had.

As expected, Gokudera was excited to greet his juudaime's father.

"Hey, why don't we hang out somewhere now?" proposed Yamamoto.

For once, the silver-haired bomber seemed to agree, "Nice, baseball nerd, let's do it! It's better not to think about family stuff too much. My house is way more messed up!" _That's one hell of a thing to say with a smile, _thought the brunette.

"What do you think, Nade-chan?" Yamamoto asked the blonde Sawada sibling.

_Hmm, I've never skipped school before - in this life or in the Before - so why not? Maybe I can check out the art store at some point for some more supplies. _"Sure!"

She belatedly registered a problem as Yamamoto called some more to join their little posse.

Kyoya will kill her for skipping.

* * *

After the second time Lambo - who somehow tagged along when Yamamoto called _everyone _\- snuck away to create chaos, Nadeshiko decided to branch off to that store she was thinking about. With a last glance at Futa enjoying the arcade with Yamamoto and her brother wrangling the wayward cow, she snuck away.

She was only walking for probably fifteen minutes when a body flew in her path and crashed into the ground before her.

As the dust cleared, she could see that the person had blonde hair like her, though a couple shades darker, with long bangs and a layered cut that ended just above the shoulders. He, at least she assumed he was a _he_ based on his attire, groaned in pain beneath the rubble of the building he crashed into. Fallen not too far from his form, was a triangular blade.

_Was this another test of Reborn's? _

Removing what debris she could from his body she crouched slightly over him, cradled his head in her hands and tapped his cheek a couple of times. _He looks like he's Tsuna's age_, she mused. "Excuse me, Stranger-san, but please wake up. Based on how you arrived, I don't think you're out of trouble just yet," she urged. The boy grimaced, his face scrunching up before a blue eye opened to meet her own.

* * *

_Forgive thee, Master. As your disciple, I am ashamed for I was unable to lose Squalo before arriving in Giappone. I shalt devote myself till thy last breath to finding thine family and Reborn-san to deliver the rings._

The pressure on his chest disappeared and a soft voice called the young CEDEF member to awaken. Basil knew he had to get up. He couldn't let an innocent get involved in his fight for the Varia were merciless.

He pried one eye open and gazed into warm amber pools framed by a halo of golden hair and nestled in the face of a fair maiden. Belatedly he realized who she was.

"Nadeshiko no kimi!" he said in surprise.

"_No kimi?_" she asked bewildered.

"Thou must flee!" _Thou?_ "My humblest apologies, I was followed. My name is Basil and I was sent here to deliver something from my Master. I have placed thee in great peril. I beseech thee, take these and find Reborn-san and Sawada-dono whilst I distract Squalo." He shoved a small ornate black and gold box into her arms and stood in front of her with his weapon clenched tightly in his hand. A bright blue flame blazed on his forehead, not unlike the way Tsuna's Sky flames would.

_Rain, _she noted.

"VOI! Enough running, trash, and start talking, or I'll make sure you're limbless before I kill you!" A man with long silver hair dressed in a black leather trench coat, pants, and boots. Nadeshiko noticed that he didn't hold the sword in his hand. It was as if the blade was strapped along his forearm. She could see the perks of having both hands free in a fight.

The boy shifted to hide her behind him as much as he could now that the rings were in her hands.

Nadeshiko silently gauged what was happening. This boy - Basil - a Rain flame user, was somehow related to the mafia since he knew Reborn was here training Tsuna. He must have had some mission to deliver this box to them for some reason and the silver-haired man was either after him, the box, information or all of the above.

He said to run while he held him off, but she could see how exhausted he was. His jeans and black blazer were ripped and scuffed and the white button-up and red t-shirt he wore beneath it was stained with dirt and blood. She didn't think she'd get an opportunity anyway. His opponent looked ruthless.

"RUN!" he cried as he blocked swing after swing from his attacker. However, his plea brought the man's attention to the girl and from the girl to the box in her hands.

"You piece of trash, you think you could hold me off, HUH?! You think I'd let that scum run off with that! VOI!" With a hard slash, he knocked her defender out of way and went to attack her.

He didn't expect her to fight back.

* * *

*BOOM*BOOM*

"W-What?" Tsuna and his friends were taking a break and eating snacks when explosions suddenly happened around them.

"Tsuna-kun, oh no, look!" The brunette turned to his crush who was pointing toward the smoke. As it cleared a familiar head of blonde accompanied by her familiar purple enflamed wings was weaving and dodging attacks from a man with long silver hair.

"NADE?!" He had never seen her move as fast as she was now. Well, he'd never seen her fighting for her life before as well.

"Tch, you little bitch, I'll slice you to pieces and make this place your grave if you don't hand them over!"

Nadeshiko scoffed at his threat, "_Sure_ you will. Just like you said you would a few minutes ago and lo and behold, I'm still here with all four limbs, old man."

_Eeek! Don't taunt someone trying to kill you, Nade!, _Tsuna shrieked internally.

"VOI! What even is your relationship with the kid? Are you really willing to give up your life for that pathetic scum?"

"No comment and my reasons are my own. I should be the one asking why an old man like yourself seems to find it okay to attack a couple of kids."

"If that's how you're going to be then fine. I'll get you to spill everything soon enough, though whether that's before or after I spill your guts, who KNOWS!" The long-haired man slashed horizontally at her stomach, Nadeshiko blocking with her wings just in time but was knocked toward the others from the force of his attack.

"Nade!/Nade-chan!/Nadeshiko-sama!/Nade-nee!" Yamamoto caught her midair and placed her beside her brother.

"Nade, are you alright? What's going on?"

"Well, I'm being chased by that long-haired old man there because some other guy who speaks like he's in the 17th century handed me this box - which I don't even _know_ what's in it - and they're definitely related to the mafia because the guy who gave this to me said to get it to you and Reborn-san."

_That doesn't even make sense, _he deadpanned.

"Voi, are you with that trash? If so, I'll slice you up as well!" Before the swordsman could advance toward the siblings, bombs rained above him as Yamamoto and Gokudera took their positions in front of them.

"Lay a hand on Juudaime and Nadeshiko-sama and I won't let you go free," warned the bomber as he armed himself with his dynamites.

"That's right. We'll be your opponents!" added Yamamoto, his baseball bat turned katana perched on his shoulders.

"Nadeshiko no kimi!"

"Oh, he's finally caught up," she remarks.

"_He_?"

"He's the one who gave me the box. His name's Basil."

"_No kimi?_" Tsuna looked to his sister who had a resigned expression on her face. He knew he regularly had on just like it because of Reborn's antics.

"Don't ask. He calls you Sawada-dono, and says 'thou' and stuff," she shrugged.

…

_These brats are weak. Completely untrained. They're naive if they think that a civilian scum can become the boss of Vongola - the strongest Mafia Famiglia. _He stepped over the body of the fallen swordsman and the Hurricane Bomb. _Slow. Fucking worthless. _

"RAWR!" _This trash is supposed to be the Tenth?! _He absorbed the teen's punch and hurled him into the nearby building.

The Sky flame on the forehead was a clear tell of why the CEDEF kid was sent to Japan and confirmed the rumor they heard in Italy. The brat was related to that bastard Iemitsu - the only one left with a blood relation to the Vongola Primo - the Young Lion of the Vongola. A civilian was chosen to become the heir when _his _boss was the rightful successor - _he _was born and raised to become the Tenth.

_But this kid is a fucking wuss. _

"TSUNA!" He had to jump back to avoid the thorned vines that sprouted from the ground where he stood. The bitch was a pain in the Varia assassin's side - _Fucking Mists. This is why I'd rather bribe Mammon than deal with their bullshit. _The girl was no doubt the brats sister and daughter of the CEDEF leader. Her blonde hair and amber eye color were no different from the mafioso's.

But she was a _Mist._

Whether or not she had other flames was a thought for another time. Right now, she was a pest and was the reason he still hadn't gotten his hands on the rings. He idly admired her abilities though. While she did dodge, she didn't run. She fought back using those wings of hers and lasted longer than the wanna-be-heir's likely guardians.

Perhaps she could be trained to Varia quality, but unlike Bel at her age, she didn't have the killer's aura - and was obviously on the brat's side.

Again, a thought for another time.

* * *

"You're just like always, Superbi Squalo. Fighting against kids. You should be ashamed."

At the appearance of the Cavallone Boss, Nadeshiko was only glad he brought his men with him since it meant he wouldn't be useless this time. She allowed herself to relax her guard just a bit after seeing the swordsman reconsider his attack because of the Bronco.

She shouldn't have.

A harsh tug on her braid made her aware that the swordsman wasn't just going to leave quietly as he said. His hand clutched her hair tightly, pulling her head back to expose her neck to his sword.

"Let her go, Squalo!"

"Nade!" Her brother once again in his Dying Will Mode the moment the man he deemed a threat reached for his sister.

Before Nadeshiko could retaliate herself, Squalo released a barrage of missiles from his sword distracting everyone and obscuring their forms.

"Voi, I'll be taking those now."

That was the last thing she remembered before pain.

…

"Nade! Tsuna!" yelled Dino.

From what he could see, the future Vongola Juudaime was alive, but what concerned the Cavallone boss was the figure bleeding out on the cement.

"Bronco! I'll spare their lives out of respect for you, but I'll be taking these! VOI!" With a laugh and farewell, the Varia assassin escaped.

"The Vongola Rings!" cried Basil. He passed out beside Nadeshiko as the last of his energy left him.

"Reborn, where were you?! Why didn't you help?! Now Nade's -" berated the hitman.

"I'm not allowed to attack him," said the hitman. A regretful tone clearly heard in his voice.

_What does he mean he's not allowed?! _"W-Why not?"

"Because...he's part of the Vongola Family too."

"Tsuna," called Dino, "We'll talk about this later. We need to take care of your sister and Basil."

Tsuna thought that the worst that'd be happening that day was the return of their absentee father, but seeing his sister bleeding out after being attacked by a member of the Family he was told he was supposed to one day lead made it clearer than ever that this Mafia business was too dangerous.

His friends and family were hurt.

Again.

He wanted nothing to do with the Mafia.

* * *

"Mmph. Ugh."

"Good morning, Hime-chan. It's a wonder why we keep meeting here."

"Urgh, Shamal-sensei? What happened?" The doctor recapped the going ons - the Varia, the Vongola Rings, Tsuna's role and his guardians, and that they had ten days to prepare for the Varia's return once they realized the rings Squalo brought back were actually fake.

"I've pretty much figured out who most of Tsu-nii's guardians are," _Gokudera-san - Storm, Yamamoto-san - Rain, Sasagawa-san - Sun, _"but who are his Lightning, Cloud, and Mist guardians? I don't have a ring, so I assume the Cloud and Mist guardian isn't me_._"

"And you're right. His Cloud is Kyoya Hibari -" _Pff, poor Nii-chan._ "-his Lightning is that cow kid, Lambo Bovino, and I don't know who was chosen as his Mist guardian," explained Shamal.

"Lambo-kun?" _But he's too young._ The older Mist user observed the somber expression on the younger's face. She sighed. "Is there any way I can help? Did Reborn task me with anything?"

"Not that I know of. I've got the oh so enjoyable job of tutoring Hayato - _that bratty kid -_ but I won't until he realizes what's important."

"You mean his life?" She could see the surprise in the doctor's eyes. "Gokudera-san is the type to dedicate all of himself to something - in this case, Tsuna. He goes full-on puppy mode when it comes to my Nii-chan and all-out hostile against anything else. I'm sure he's working himself to the bone to be worthy of being Tsuna's Storm Guardian."

This time he was the one to sigh, "If only you were my student, then I'd have a smart _and _cute little disciple."

_Never gonna happen, you perverted old man, _she jested internally.

* * *

Using her birthday gift to Tsuna, Nadeshiko found out that he was taken to a remote mountain to train with Basil by Reborn. Her brother was being run ragged by the infant, and Basil's obliviousness and eagerness were not unlike Yamamoto's in that it was equally frustrating to be around at times.

She knew it'd make him stronger, in the end, so she wished him good luck to his dismay.

Before he could beg for her to help him escape, Reborn knocked him back into the fight, therefore disrupting their flame connection.

She mentally patted herself on the back. The cuffs she made were better than any cell phone and only flame users could use it as more than a stylish accessory.

She figured she would visit Kyoya at some point, but likely when the last days were approaching since she reckoned he'd be training with some unfortunate tutor Reborn chose for him and absolutely wasn't willing to be a practice dummy for her violent friend.

* * *

In a moment that cost the Cavallone boss a hit to the face, he sneezed.

* * *

So here she was, wandering - as all clouds do - around Namimori's shopping district. Just as she was about to pass a darkened shop that in all appearances looked closed, the light flickered on.

_Kawahira's Emporium?_ Eh, she had nothing better to do till her wounds stopped aching, and entered the shop. What she was faced with was a mish-mash of craft supplies, jewelry, antiques, snacks, and - to her disbelief - weapons!

"Welcome to Kawahira's Emporium, the place where you can find what you need before you even know you need it!" greeted a pale white-haired man with round glasses. She gave the man a nod of acknowledgment and a smile then turned to browse through the knick-knacks.

Somehow she found herself in front of the weapons. _I _did_ think it'd be a good idea to get an actual weapon so I wouldn't be weaponless when I can't use my flames. _

But there were so many choices.

She didn't see herself as a swordswoman nor one who used guns. The staff and naginata called to her but she didn't like how unwieldy it was. Bringing it around seemed like it'd be way more trouble than it was worth. She was about to give up when she was stopped by the shopkeep.

"How about this?" In his hands and around his wrists were thin metal circles, the one in his hand being the only one with a curved handle bisecting the weapon in a ying-yang fashion.

She hadn't heard his approach, but that may have been because she was so deep in thought. "Excuse me?"

"I saw you checking out the weapons. We don't get many customers and the ones we do tend to dabble in crafts or are tourists looking for little trinkets. It's been a while since a more..._exotic_… customer has visited my emporium. I couldn't help myself from adding my own two cents if you know what I mean," he said with a secretive smile.

While her own senses weren't alarmed, she didn't know if she should explicitly trust the man at face value. "That's, uh, good to know. So, what are those?" she asked, pointing to the circle-shaped weapons in his hands.

"Chakrams. Also known as chalikar, and for the ones around my wrist, chakri. They originate from India although similar weapons such as the Kanawa from Japan and the Wind and Fire Wheels from China have a similar shape and use. They come in various sizes and were worn on the warrior's wrists, neck, and head. What's interesting about chakrams is that, while able to be used for hand-to-hand combat, they're meant to be thrown."

"Thrown?"

"Mhm, thrown. Like a frisbee, it can be thrown overhead, underhand, from between two fingers, and my personal favorite, by twirling it around your finger and flicking your wrist to release it. It's very aerodynamic and under a well-trained eye and in the hands of a skilled practitioner, can be ricocheted off of multiple surfaces to take out an entire room." A dark promise could be seen in his eyes.

"...uh." She could feel a drop of sweat run down her neck as she blanched at his description of the potential deadly uses of the weapon.

"But of course I'm not expecting _you_ to use these for something like _that_." And he was back to the slightly creepy, but friendly persona again. "So, what do you think?"

She was in a dilemma. She didn't necessarily need the weapon, but with everyone training to hone their current and new skills, she figured that if she didn't want to be left behind she also needed to learn something new. The circle weapon appeared harmless but was lethal in its simplicity and multipurpose in its usage. She could easily keep them on hand and hide them under her long sleeves if necessary_ and_ they wouldn't get in the way of her wings which was a huge plus to the young blonde.

It looked like her mind was already made up.

"How much are they?" she relented. Surprisingly, the white-haired man gave her a discount and even threw in an extra jewelry of her choice. He took out a box of elaborate rings that looked _way_ too expensive to be considered a small extra for a first time customer. Some were full finger rings, many had multiple glittering gems, some with intricately carved designs and some a mix of different types of metals.

One ring, however, stood out to her. It had no gems set into the band to draw one's attention. The only details were in the metalwork. A feminine figure rested against what could only be described as a cross - making it appear as if the wings that framed the figure were pinned to it. Like it was being crucified. It was mystifying - rather dark - but beautifully crafted. She picked it up carefully with her fingers to get a closer look.

"It's called Angelo Senza Testa or the Headless Angel, based of the goddess of victory, Nike," once again the man took her out of her musing, "the ring itself was based on the sculpture, Winged Victory of Samothrace, that depicted the goddess with no arms or head. Is that the one you've decided on?"

"Um, yes, if that's alright? I know you said it's because I'm a first time customer, but these rings seem too good to be thought of as a little gift." Her skepticism easily read in her expression. She was beginning to feel bad for getting something as well-crafted as the ring for free.

"Of course it is! As I said, not many people visit this store and I've been meaning to find a place for that particular ring." _Odd choice of words there, Shopkeeper-san._

She left Kawahira's Emporium with a bundle of chakrams and a ring that seemed to call to her the moment she laid eyes on it.

_Maybe I'll visit this place again sometime._

* * *

"So that's your chosen, Sepira. Let us hope she uses it well and can survive what all bearers of_ that_ ring face."

* * *

_Tou-san_ =** dad; father**

_Kaa-chan_ = **mom;mother**

_Giappone_ = **Japan in italian**

_dono_ =** lord**

_No kimi_ =** formal address of ladies of the court during the Heian period**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was getting pretty long so I decided to cut it here for now. I'll try to get that next chapter in faster now that it's training montage time. **

**We'll see if we get to the Ring Battles. I definitely want her there for Lambo's fight, but I also want her to keep Hibari company, ya know. Decisions decisions.**

**P.S. I've given up rice for Lent…as an asian this is killing me, but it's my first time actually doing something serious for the holiday so I'll see how long I last.**

**THANKS FOR READING!**

**3/5/20**

**updated: 4/9/20**


	14. Chapter 14

**Warnings: **Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

_Italicized words _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**Thank you to ALL YOU READERS who have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! \\(u)/ It makes my day when I'm notified of a new follower/favoriter and I'm eager to read any and all reviews I get. **

**Special thanks to**_ merendinoemiliano, HuangBaiLian, xenocanaan, Megi Keishii _**and **_gabriellesantos2404 _**for reviewing the last chapter! **

**Quarantine has actually hindered my inspiration, so it's been a slow process with this one where I wrote about a third, then got stuck, wrote another third, then got stuck again. I should have finished this sooner but ya know… life and forced online school… etc…reading fanfics… time escapes me. I've kind of figured out what to write? You'll see/read. **

**Also, PMing me is actually a faster way for me to respond to any questions/reviews if you want something immediate, but having more reviews for the story does help :).**

**Super short *sneak peek* in the ending notes.**

**To **_xenocanaan_**: You've gotten your wish.**

**To **_Megi Keishii_**: Iemitsu is her father so while yelling, insulting, and ignoring are appropriate for Nade, physically disrespecting and hurting her loved ones - no matter how stupid she finds them - isn't up her alley. Her 'cloudy' beat downs are more for people she doesn't respect like Dino, so I'd definitely see her stepping on Dino's feet for the heck of it or punching him in the throat to make him shut up.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

*Thwack*

"Again."

*Swish*Thwack*

"Again."

*Swish*Thud*

"Have you suddenly gone blind? _Again_."

*Swish*Thwack*

"You're becoming predictable, and predictable for a Mist is death. Anticipate and adapt. Overwhelm your opponent before they know what to expect like the clouds that bring winter's harshest blizzards and fiercest storms. You have the weapons and you have the ability to best utilize those weapons. Again."

*Swish*Clang*Thwack*Thwack*Twhack*

"More."

*Swish*Clang*Thwack*Thwack*Thwack*Thwack*Thwack*

Silence aside from the sound of soft breaths.

"Good job, Nadeshiko-kun! Take a 15-minute break." Kawahira flicked open a paper fan to cool himself off as if he was the one who just went through drill after hellish drill. Despite the rounded glasses hiding his eyes above the leaves of the fan, Nadeshiko knew him well enough by now that they were filled with amusement at her fatigued self heaving on the floor.

She now had her very own tutor from Hell and didn't know if hers was the lesser evil compared to her brother's own sadistic tutor.

_How'd I get into this again?_ she thought.

* * *

"_How on earth am I going to learn how to use these things?" she asked herself. "Reborn-san's teaching Tsuna. Shamal-sensei is teaching Gokudera. I'm definitely not going to ask Papa - and that'd only be if he knew anything about chakrams - so what do I do?" _

_She considered just learning by trial-and-error on her own, but after the tenth almost-beheading, she knew she needed _someone_ to teach her. "Maybe Shopkeeper-san knows someone?" she mused. It looked like she was revisiting the odd store earlier than she thought she would. _

* * *

"_Welcome to Kawahira's Emporium, the place where you can find what you need before you even know you need it!" The white-haired man perked up even more when he noticed just who had walked in."Oh, it's you again, Customer-san. How have you been finding the chakrams?"_

"_They're...good. But I was wondering if you know anyone that can teach me how to properly use them. I've had a _few_ too many close encounters to continue trying on my own."_

_He nodded in agreement. "Ah, they are quite finicky in the beginning. I do know someone who can teach you."_

"_Really?" _

"_Yes, in fact, _I _can teach you," he said with an unreadable smile. The gleam off his glasses obscuring his eyes. _

_She hoped she wouldn't regret her decision._

* * *

"_You're holding back."_

_She relaxed from her throwing stance. She was confused by his comment because she was hitting all the targets pretty accurately as they neared the end of her first training session. He taught her how to hold the rings safely and correctly and how to flick her wrist for a controlled and strong throw._

_A part of her was annoyed. What does he mean she's holding back?! Sweat rolled down her forehead, muscles aching from the activity she knew she put her all into. She never did anything half-heartedly and wasn't about to start now, so what was he talking about?_

_Kawahira stood across from her, arms folded whilst holding his fan. His piercing unreadable stare unnerving the blonde. He stood legs shoulder-width apart, a stern frown shaping his lips. _

"_What do you mean, Shishou?" she asked after taking a calming breath._

"_You are holding yourself back by limiting yourself. I know you are capable of something more. Something only a _select_ group of people are aware of. I'm sure you know what I am referencing," his remark was emphasized with a cocked eyebrow._

"_...I'm not sure I do, Shishou." _

"_Is that so?" _

_A faint purple glimmered over the black titanium ring he wore on the middle finger of his right hand. It was so faint she would have missed it entirely if her attention wasn't solely on her teacher - and if it wasn't a purple she was _very_ familiar with._

"_You must be parched after such a hard first day, yes? Would you like a drink?" Before her eyes, the ring transformed from a plain band to an amalgamation of wiggling tendrils. _

_He waved his fan in short slicing strokes as if drawing something specific. When the white-haired man finished, the strokes glowed purple revealing the character for water. Knowing better than to remain standing directly in front of the attack, she dodged to the side. Unexpectedly, the fast-approaching jet stream followed her movement. _

No choice, _she thought. Her own flames molded into her wings to protect her from the onslaught of water. She braced herself for impact, but silence greeted her. Nothing._

_She slowly unraveled her wings, peeking through the feathers, and spotted the satisfied grin on the shopkeeper who was definitely not a normal old but young-looking shopkeeper._

"_Why, Nadeshiko-kun! Where on earth did those come from?!"_

"_I think you know, Kawahira-shishou, since you _obviously_ can do the same. Or did you somehow hide a geyser that shoots horizontally in the back of your store?" She relaxed once again, dismissing her flames._"_You..know about Mist flames?" she questioned hesitantly. From what Reborn said to her and her brother, she figured that most Flame-users were somehow linked to the darker corners of the world since Flame use wasn't something seen every day by just anybody. _

_So just _who_ was Kawahira-san?_

"_I know about Mist flames and then some. Probably for longer than you've been alive." His grin returned to a stern frown, although more thoughtful than displeased like before. "I hope that from now on, you will use these flames during your training." He must have seen surprise in her eyes as he continued, "As a Mist, you have the ability to make reality anything you want. The possibilities are limitless - protection, maneuvering, concealment, attack and so much more. You should practice incorporating them into your fighting style especially now that you're adding weapons to your arsenal. __Do you have other flames?"_

"_Yes, Sky and Cloud. But I can only use the Cloud, although not as well as my Mist, obviously."_

"_Perfect," he said with an anticipatory grin._

_She didn't know what he was thinking and didn't know if she wanted to or not. Nadeshiko scrunched her brows as she eyed the other skeptically, "You're _really _not a normal civilian shopkeeper are you?" _

"_Well...who knows?"_

* * *

Three days gone. Seven more to go before the Varia return. But that doesn't matter now because…

"KO-CHAN! GOOD MORNING!"

"_Papa," _she growled.

"Wake up Ko-chan! Today's a brand new day and it's time we spent some quality father-daughter time. You've been so busy lately that Papa hasn't gotten more than a glimpse of his little Ko-chan." She couldn't take his brand of stupidity right now. Kawahira's training always left her mentally and physically exhausted afterward. Most of her time since leaving the hospital was spent training and going to school so when she'd finally get home she'd eat a quick dinner then go to bed, then wake up the next morning to do it all over again.

She grumbled unintelligibly.

"Hm? What was that, Ko-chan?"

"_Get. Out." _The purple flames in her eyes glowed strong through the mostly darkened room.

* * *

The CEDEF Head winced slightly, _there's that Cloud temper I heard about from Reborn, _and shrunk back, closing the door carefully on his way out of the room. His little Ko-chan was growing up and despite his wish for her to remain ignorant of the Mafia world like Nana, it was obvious to Reborn - and now even him - that she would follow her brother into the metaphorical flames.

However, there was something concerning him the moment she returned home from the hospital.

He had expected her to come straight home, maybe talk to her brother, maybe talk to _him. _He was upset Reborn had informed her of the Mafia world; of her brother's new role in that world. She wasn't supposed to find out...but she did. Iemitsu was ready to face her Cloud temper, to deflect her Mist questions, and to calm her turbulent Sky flames.

And could he just say how astonished he was at the fact that his _musume _had _three_ Flame types?! Having one already wasn't common, having two was rare, but _three_ Flame types? And Reborn informed him that she'd activated her Flames _years_ ago, had been practicing with them even when she had no idea what they were. When?! What happened to his daughter that made her activate _Dying_ Will flames?

Anyways, he had expected her to confront him after returning from the hospital, but it was hours before she came home with a bag full of metal rings. His eyes almost bulged out of his head and he almost exposed himself when he realized what the rings were - chakrams - deadly bladed weapons.

What was even more concerning was the ring upon her finger that almost made him leave his hiding place.

It was a Flame ring.

It had to be. He could feel the subtle thrumming of Mist flames pulsing from the ring. It reminded him of the Vongola Rings that emitted a similar feeling when in the proximity of its rightful heirs. The power contained in the rings would pulse out - _just like hers_ \- attracting many to claim them.

It also reminded him of the infamous Hell Rings. Powerful but cursed. Their locations were unknown, but he was sure there were only six Hell Rings: Ossa Impressione, Segno, 666, Malocchio, Pothos' Orb, and Corno Hell Rings. From his limited view, he couldn't tell what hers looked like and while there was an aura similar to the Hell Rings, it didn't feel as malicious as the Hell Rings were rumored to feel.

So where did she get it? Any of it? The weapons? The ring? He knew all the weapons shops (legal and illegal) around Namimori and knew none had something as exotic as a chakram let alone would sell it to a child. Guns and blades were the go-to weapons for many. The occasional staff, naginata, tonfas, even a war fan was more common than a _chakram._

It was troubling. Iemitsu was determined to keep an eye out for her even if he could tell she was determined to spend her time elsewhere for the time being.

* * *

"Nade!" "Tsu-nii." Both siblings walking back from their prospective training grounds greeted each other after another long day of training. Reborn followed along on the stone ledge and Basil at Tsuna's side.

Neither had spent much time together the past few days as both were focused on their own training.

"Good evening to you as well, Basil-san. Our first meeting was a bit on the chaotic side with that old man and everything trying to kill us, but it's nice to meet you again."

"Tis my own pleasure to make thy acquaintance, Nadeshiko no kimi," the darker blonde gushed, a small blush tinting his cheeks and ears.

"Please, no 'no kimi.' If you have to call me anything, 'dono' like you call Tsu-nii or 'san' is fine. 'No kimi' isn't really used nowadays when addressing people." She hoped Basil wasn't another Gokudera in the making.

"Ah, forgive me then, Nadeshiko-dono. My master taught me Japanese when I was young and I see that I must learn the modern tongue." _That explains his old century way of speaking. Someone taught him to speak like that, _thought the Sawada's.

"Who is your master, Basil-kun? You always mention him in your stories and he was the one who brought us the rings," questioned Tsuna.

"You'll be meeting him soon, Tsuna," informed Reborn.

Unlike her brother who brooded over the information of meeting the man who flipped their lives upside down, Nadeshiko spotted the amused grin the hitman and Basil shared and realized just who they were talking about. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Hm? What is it, Nade?"

"Tsuna, think about it. Why were _you_ chosen to be the Tenth, remember?"

His eyes burned orange. "Tou-san?!" His head turned from her to Basil to Reborn in disbelief. "Our lazy dad is Basil's master? He's been barely dressed, let alone awake since he returned!"

"Tsu-nii, Reborn told us he's part of Vongola. Regardless of our disappointment with him as our father," neither noticed Basil's disheartened expression, "he's been in the mafia for years and related enough to the main family that you became heir."

"I just can't see Tou-san as anything but an irresponsible drunkard who passes out daily whenever he's home," he mumbled.

She knew he'd vehemently deny their father being anything but good-for-nothing till he saw it with his own eyes. Hopefully, he'd understand before it was too late. _Though that's also up to Papa. If he has the guts to tell us - Mama included - the whole truth,_ she thought bitterly as they continued on home.

* * *

"_Tadaima!_"

"_Okaeri!_" greeted their father, who for once was awake and looked like he was headed out in his orange construction uniform.

"T-tou-san! It's rare for you to be awake at this time!" her brother clamored, "Are you heading out?"

"Yeah...some uninvited guests came earlier than expected." The tension was palpable at his words. Tsuna sobered up quickly from before, the orange glow to his eyes signaling to the others his understanding of the gravity of the situation. While he couldn't coincide their good-for-nothing father with a deadly mafioso, he knew the moment he said those words that trouble was coming.

"W-what do you mean exactly?" the brunette asked with a grave expression, one shared by each of them.

"It looks like the Varia have arrived in Japan. My agent back in the homeland informed me, so there's no mistake. They're here, and Xanxus' super intuition must be why the fakes were found out so quickly.

"I'm going to check on all the Guardians and inform them of the situation. Assist me, Basil."

"Yes, Master." In spite of her forewarning, Tsuna was still dumbstruck when Basil called their deadbeat father 'Master.'

"I'll explain everything later," _Yeah, right. _"For now, keep this a secret from Kaa-san. Promise, ne?" He linked pinkies with her brother, then directed his attention to her. "You too, Ko-chan."

She didn't want to promise. More secrets, more being left in the dark. Would he ever really explain or would it always be false comfort? She sighed, "For now, Papa. But you better explain." She stared him directly in the eyes, amber to purple-tinted amber.

He gave her a solemn nod.

"The enemy's advance unit is Leviathan's Lightning Squad. They'll come to take the half-Vongola Lightning Ring," _No! _"I'm worried about the Lightning Guardian since he's still inexperienced so I'll send the Guardians to help once I've contacted them, but it'll take some time. Tsuna, I want you to go and protect him. Let's go, Basil!" he directed the latter to his apprentice.

"Papa!" Iemitsu paused at her call and while both their bodies were facing the other direction, their eyes shifted toward each others'. "Be safe."

"Of course, Ko-chan! Your papa's the manliest guy around!" he roared after a brief moment, a confident smile on his face.

Nadeshiko grabbed her stunned brother's hand and immediately dragged him out the door in the opposite direction of the disappearing forms of the CEDEF agents. Reborn following them just as swiftly.

"Eh?! Nade, what are you doing?"

"We have to hurry, Tsu-nii."

"Why? Who's the Guardian of the Lightning Ring?"

_Curse you, Reborn. Curse you, Papa. _"It's Lambo._"_

* * *

"Who's idea was it to make Lambo a Guardian?! He's five years old! Plus, he's stupid!" The siblings and Reborn were running as fast as they could to find the young Bovino.

"Yeah, I wonder who?" Nadeshiko said sarcastically.

"Besides, Lambo is part of the Bovino Family! Is it okay to bring him into Vongola?!" _I didn't think of that, _Nade thought, _I hope Lambo isn't in trouble because of Vongola. _She tensed, hoping that one of her pseudo-little brothers wasn't in a precarious position with his original Famiglia.

"The only one who did such a thing was the Primo. Primo Vongola accepted anyone he liked. The First Family had everything from kings, military men, rival mafia, and religious people." _Wow,_ they thought.

"How was I supposed to know that? Even if we're okay with it, what would Lambo's boss say?!"

"He said it was an honor and cried out with joy."

"What?!" Tsuna tripped slightly at the statement. _Go figure, _she rolled her eyes. The tension leaking out of her body.

"STAY AWAY!"

"FUTA!" In a burst of flames, her wings erupted from her back. No one messed with _her_ Storm (not that _she _realized that half of her protective instincts came from more than just the feelings of an older sibling). It didn't help that their first sight of the child-trio was a beaten up I-pin barely holding up against an assassin who greatly outmatched her in age and no doubt experience.

With a well-planted kick, the black-clad assailant was sent flying down the street. "Futa-kun, I-pin-chan, Lambo-kun! Are you all alright?"

"Watch out!" warned Tsuna as another assailant swooped down beside their crouching figures, arm raised to slice at them with his sword.

Next thing anyone knew, the man, who had just landed, was sent hurling away. "Vongola Famiglia's Guardian of the Sun and Colonello's best disciple Sasagawa Ryohei is here!"

Nadeshiko half-ignored the gathering of Tsuna's Guardians as she fretted over the kids until a heavy aura fell over them. A large tanned man with black spikey hair and a goatee landed on the raised area in front of them. His clothes were similar to Squalo's, all black leather and strappy, and he had a chain connecting the ring on his upper lip to the one on his brow.

A little threat and a grab for the eight swords strapped on his back weren't enough for Nade to pay him any more of her attention, but the arrival of five other Varia members successfully made the hair on her neck stand up. She positioned herself in front of the younger kids as her brother and his friends acted as another barrier between them and the assassins.

"VOI! How dare you trick me, you piece of trash?!" _Great, it's the old lady again, _she droned internally. While the white-haired assassin and Yamamoto exchanged quips, Nadeshiko's attention was on the figure pushing through the rest of the Varia group.

"There he is…" said Reborn, "I never thought that the day I see him again would ever come - Xanxus." Scars stretched out of his dark spiky hair and across the left side of his face, enhancing his already frightening glare. His coat hung off him, not unlike their resident demon, an animal tail at his nape, and long feathered earrings that in any other situation Nadeshiko would have happily admired.

His glare intensified as his stifling killing intent paralyzed them all and almost caused Tsuna's legs to collapse if he hadn't remembered that his sister was right behind him, along with his hard-earned friends. He couldn't fall apart now. He couldn't be Dame Tsuna when he was the only thing between death and his family.

"Tsunayoshi Sawada," the Varia leader summoned his flames into his hand, his power saturated the air so much that a vortex of wind was starting to form around him. Nadeshiko could see how even his underlings were wary of what their boss was about to do.

"This is bad! Run!" yelled the infant.

"Tsu-nii!" Nadeshiko began to gather her own flames to at least make a barrier -

"Die."

_I'm too late. _

A pickaxe dug into the ground before the Varia boss. "Wait, Xanxus. That's enough."

Their father - apparently the Vongola's outside adviser who was second-in-command of the Vongola - explained the Ninth's sudden change of candidate and that the successor was to be decided through a sanctioned battle between Tsuna's Family and the Varia. The battles would begin tomorrow late in the night at Namimori Middle School.

How they can expect any of Tsuna's Guardians, let alone a five-year-old, to participate in a one-on-one match against seasoned killers went against every bone in her body. Those Cervello women charged with refereeing the battles added no comfort to Nade when even her father had no idea who they were.

Nadeshiko only wished there was more she could do to help.

* * *

"Kyoya~, you up here?"

"Guh!" was her answer as a body was slammed into the wall beside the roof entrance. The girl took in the blonde hair, green jacket, whip, and suited henchman on the side then deemed it - yes, _it_ \- insignificant and walked toward her friend.

"Have you taken a break at all?" she asked as she began to set up lunch in front of the ravenette, completely ignoring the small puddles of blood and craters littering the area.

"Hn."

"Nice to see you again, Nade-chan! Thanks for bringing us food. Kyoya hasn't let me rest at all since I started training him," chuckled Dino with his hand scratching the back of his head.

"Your lunch is over there, Dino-san," she pointed back toward the door, "Here's your lunch, Romario-san. Good work today!" she said with a kind smile. Romario couldn't help but pity his boss as he sheepishly accepted the lunchbox from the Vongola princess and thanked her.

Dino, on the other hand, fell over in gloom from her blatant display of disdain. He threw an exasperated glare at the Cloud Guardian who he could tell felt some sort of glee at her actions by the gleam in his eyes. Sulking in his corner by the door with Romario - he tried to sit closer but received two death stares - he observed an immediate change in his charge.

The tension that was present since Dino began Kyoya's training was almost nonexistent as he watched the teen relax beside the girl. He almost couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the Cloud peacefully eat his food while Nadeshiko wiped as much of the blood and dirt off as she could.

It was like watching a lion tamed by a lamb. It was inconceivable, mind-boggling, completely unbelievable...and it was happening before his eyes.

Did anyone else see what he was seeing?! The gentle look instead of the steely glower, patience instead of temper, tranquility instead of brutality! Where was the bloodthirsty boy who automatically attacked and threatened him?!

Reborn mentioned they were friends, but he never predicted them to be as close as they seemed.

* * *

Nade gently wiped the blood off her friend's forehead as he ate the hamburger steak she prepared for his lunch. She wrung the cloth saturated with his blood in a clean bowl of water and admitted to herself that she'd have to change the water more than once with the number of injuries Kyoya sustained.

When she looked back up to see how much more she had left to treat, her eyes locked with intense gray. He didn't need to say a word for Nadeshiko to know what he was asking - _Where have you been?_

"I've been training too, Kyoya," she smirked. "You're not the only one who'll have a real weapon in our fights now."

His eyes narrowed at the unspoken challenge while his lips tilted up into a smirk. "Fight me."

Chopsticks holding a piece of hamburger steak were shoved in his face. "After you finish eating and I finish cleaning your wounds _then_ we can spar. Promise." She couldn't withhold the eager gleam in eyes at the chance to show off her new moves.

Coming out of being cross-eyed, the Disciplinary leader chomped onto the morsel held in front of him. The smirk on his face remained even as he chewed. "Hn, _Mashiko._"

She felt her face glow red, but she didn't blush.

She_ didn't_.

* * *

Mouth gaping, Dino hurriedly whispered, "Romario! Did you see that?!" His chopsticks hung out of his mouth as he nudged the similarly stunned man over and over.

* * *

Two kindred souls stood across from each other, ready with their weapons out. The sound of lunchtime chatter was carried on the gentle breeze and the air filled with excitement. They understood that this would mainly be a weapons battle, but who knew what would happen once they started?

Kyoya was keenly aware of the circular blades in her hand and around her wrists though that didn't stop him from making the first move as usual. He lunged forward, the sound of metal on metal echoed on the rooftop as Nadeshiko met his tonfa with her yin-yang chakram, which she split in two at some point during the fight.

Close combat still wasn't in her favor so as soon as she saw an opening, she flipped over Kyoya, throwing one of her smaller chakri to keep him at a distance as she landed. She reconnected her blades then hooked it to a strap on her hip. With a sharp flick of her wrists, several of the rings fell into her hands. She let two fly in Kyoya's direction, both easily knocked away with a swipe of his own weapons.

While not the ideal location to make the most of her weapon, there were enough sturdy walls and structures on the roof to take advantage of. In swift succession, blades were sent in all directions bouncing off the ground, walls, water tank, and fences to strategically come at Kyoya from all angles.

The Cloud Guardian instantly released the hidden chains in his tonfas and made short work of the oncoming blades by rapidly spinning the chains to act as an active barrier of sorts. The wind formed by the chains ruffled his hair.

Nadeshiko internally groaned, _That's so unfair._ She couldn't let him continue using the chains or else her blades would never connect.

Against Kyoya's expectations, the blonde was the first to rush forward, her yin-yang blades split once again in her hands. She ducked under his swings to get in between the chains and his body then attempted a downward vertical slice with her left blade. As she predicted, it didn't connect (Hibari redirected his chains to wrap around each other to form a thicker chain that prevented her weapon from landing the hit). The unyielding chains fit right into the niche of her blade and handle.

While the chain was held taut, she slid the caught blade to where the tonfa connected then pulled as she simultaneously jabbed with her right blade to cut the base of the connection on the other tonfa. The results were chainless tonfas for the rest of the fight and a feeling of accomplishment in the blonde.

This time the skylark jumped back for space and glanced at his weapons. The chains were gone, but no matter. The small break allowed Nadeshiko to switch to her chakri, take a breath, and plan out her next moves.

As always, Kyoya was the typical head-on 'beat it till it's dead' fighter while she favored plans easily adaptable for any impulsive actions. It may have seemed useless to get rid of the chains since she didn't doubt that he could redirect her projectiles with just his tonfas, but at least without the chains she had a chance to slip some past his guard. That's what she hoped at least.

It was time to show him the advantages of fighting with Flames.

He, too, was beginning to get impatient as he resumed his stance. It was almost disconcerting how wide the grin on her friend's face had grown since the beginning of their fight. Although, she probably couldn't say much when hers was the same.

She started by bouncing a chakri vertically against the ground. Then another, and another, and another. Cloud copies allowed her an endless supply of blades. Kyoya chose to dodge between the blades until the space between each became too narrow and forced him to knock them out of the air.

Nadeshiko took that moment to change to a horizontal throw that started off as a single chakri but ended up multiplying into many like the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu in Naruto. He managed to block the majority of the rings but had to physically dodge a few which, due to his miscalculation, rebounded off the wall behind him faster than he could react.

Their spectators expected blood and were about to call for medical aid when they saw the blades slice through the teen's arms and legs. But there was no blood while the weapons dispersed in wisps of purple flames after exiting his body.

What no one but Nadeshiko and her teacher knew was that she coated her blades with all three of her Flames. When she realized how dangerous her new weapons could be she was determined to find a way to make them less harmful, relatively speaking. Cloud flames were used to multiply the number of chakri at any moment, Mist was used to make them 'harmless' by allowing the blade to pass through the body, and Sky (in the small amount that she was able to control thanks to her teacher) was used to temporarily _petrify_ her opponents' nerves and muscles.

Her opponents would be incapacitated but not physically damaged for the most part. She could control the amount of damage she delivered although sudden paralyzation would be mentally disturbing for anyone in that situation. Regardless, this pacified her fear of permanently or, god forbid, _mortally_ wounding someone without lessening the value and potential of the chakrams.

* * *

_She was almost about to give up thinking of a solution when Kawahira-shishou said, "Your Flames are a reflection of yourself and will do what you _will_ it to do. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are a _Mist_, you make_ fantasy_ a _reality_. Sky flames are also quite interesting. Their ability to harmonize other Flames also gives it the ability to petrify or neutralize."_

"_Petrify?"_

"_Exactly what it means - to turn into stone. Dying Will Flames, in general, can be applied in different ways despite their initial uses. Take for instance Sun flames. Suns are typically the healers of the group because of their activation characteristic, which allows them to induce and improve healing. However, an uncontrolled Sun flame or a _weaponized_ Sun flame could induce tumor formation, ectopic limbs, overactive pain receptors, or blood clotting - and this is only in the subject of healing._

"_As for Sky flames, since it's one of the rarer Flames not much is known about what can be done, so I supposed it's up to you on how you'd go about this."_

"_But I've never been able to consciously access my Sky flames," she lamented._

"_Don't worry," he chuckled, "By the end of today, if you're resolved enough, you'll be conjuring Sky flames like your life depended on it…because it will."_

* * *

Exploiting her now paralyzed opponent, she tackled him to the ground and pinned him with her blades at his throat. Time seemed to freeze as they exchanged wide-eyed stares.

"YATTA!" Nadeshiko screamed, her delight emphasized with a double fist pump to the sky and a gigantic grin. So elated was she at her first win against the teen that she forgot she was basically sitting on his chest. Not that Kyoya did anything to remind or dissuade her as he watched her mini-celebration; fond memories of their first meeting came to the skylark's mind.

"Great fight, Nade-chan, Kyoya!" congratulated Dino. He knew Kyoya had endless potential, but he never realized his _imouto_ (however reluctant she was to be) was just about equally talented! He was looking forward to the feats they'd pull off in the future as well as pitying anyone unlucky enough to face either youth on the battlefield. Just imagine if they fought together! At least Tsuna wouldn't have to worry about his Cloud Guardian for the Ring Battles.

Kyoya reached up with one hand and lightly tapped his tonfa to her forehead, toppling a bashful and blushing Nadeshiko onto her butt as he calmly sat up.

"I guess I should probably get back to class now," she conceded as she watched her friend pick up his gakuran and head to his nap area.

"About that, the bell rang a while ago so classes already began, Nade-chan," Dino confessed.

"Eh?! Then," she pivoted toward the Disciplinary leader, "Kyoya! Let me skip, pretty please?" she begged with hands clasped under her chin while giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Hn, do what you will, _Mashiko_." His eyes already closed as he relaxed on his back.

"Then I'll take this afternoon nap as my reward for today's spar, _Hibari_," she teased and laid down beside him. Hey, she deserved a break after the hellish few days of training she's gone through.

* * *

The Cavallone men couldn't help but share the same thoughts as they watched the two fall asleep as if they weren't in the middle of a destroyed, weapon-littered roof.

_They're both monsters._

* * *

"Nade, will you be watching the battles?" inquired Reborn.

"Am I allowed? I mostly only want to be there for Lambo's fight. As for the others, I suppose I wouldn't mind watching Kyoya's match."

"You are," he answered. "And, hm, that's probably the best idea. In the meantime, you can help Dino keep Hibari away from the school. I'll notify you when the Lightning match will be, given that I doubt he would be the first."

"I'll do what I can then. Wish them luck for me Reborn-san."

* * *

"Oh, Tsu-nii, you're still awake?"

"I should be the one asking you that, Nade," he sighed. It was around 3 A.M., Tsuna had just gotten done talking to Lambo's future self who asked him to make sure Lambo _didn't_ use the Ten-Year Bazooka. _Hah, what am I going to do?!_

"So how was the battle? Who fought?"

Still cradling the five-year-old, he sat down on the edge of his sister's bed so wrapped up in his worries he didn't hear her questions. "What am I going to do, Nade? Lambo's supposed to fight tomorrow, but the Varia...they don't show mercy even for their own."

"Eh? What do you mean?" she probed. The brunette recounted the events of the night. How Lussuria was shot down by his own team when it was obvious he'd lost after Ryohei's Maximum Canon shattered his metal knee. How Reborn informed him that the Varia's Lightning candidate, Levi, has no problem killing women and children.

"I can't let him fight. It's too dangerous. Even Adult Lambo has no idea what will happen. I...I just..." ..._don't want to see my friends hurt._

"You're right, Tsuna, in that Lambo shouldn't have to fight but the reality of the situation is that he _will_. So, what's the plan? Maybe he could forfeit? You lose the Lightning Ring, but he's guaranteed to live past that night. However, there could be more consequences to outright forfeiting that we don't know yet."

Her brother seriously considered her proposal.

"Or...he can fight. There must have been a reason for Papa and Reborn to have considered Lambo worthy of the Lightning Ring. Some fathomable reason that led two of Vongola's best to believe that our five-year-old _otouto_ has a chance as the next Lightning Guardian. You know I don't want Lambo, want any of you for that matter, fighting against experienced assassins, but you will. You already have, and you _won_. Maybe, just _maybe_, there's a chance for Lambo to win and survive." Neither said a word as they studied the sleeping child in his arms.

"He's just a kid," he whispered.

"So are we, Tsu-nii," she remarked. "If, if anything _is_ about to happen...I'll do something. I promise." Her brother was a gentle soul. She knew that if she didn't do something he would, but the penalties from his interference could be worse than anything she'd have to face. She wasn't a guardian. Maybe they'd see her as more of an interfering third party so that Tsuna's side wouldn't be penalized. At least that's what she hoped.

"Try to get some sleep." Whether she'd take her own advice wasn't the point. "We can talk to Reborn tomorrow to see if there are any loopholes we can exploit." _Though the shady Cervello ladies can't be trusted to do anything in their favor even if it was technically legal, _she mused.

Only time would tell.

* * *

_musume_** = daughter**

_Shishou_ = **master/teacher aka sensei**

Ossa Impressione** = Bones Impression**

Segno**= Sign**

Malocchio** = Evil eye**

Pothos** = Devil's ivy (**described as a vine-covered orb)

Corno** = Devil's Horn (**described as a Horn-shaped Hell Ring)

_Tadaima _**= I'm home**

_Okaeri _**= Welcome back/home**

**Had to decide some names for the two unnamed Hell Rings but I think they're appropriate.**

**I also found it amusing that her long fight scenes have only been with Hibari. I guess he's just the perfect opponent to challenge her at the moment *shrug*. How **_**was **_**the fight scene? I think the main reason she won was that Nade was able to keep the battle long-ranged and surprised him. Roll, Hibari's box weapon, acts as his projectile weapon in the future so a battle between him and Nade would definitely change in response.**

**Sneak peek: **

*Click* - **onomatopoeia is lovely**

"I'll give you a choice. Either you surrender the ring to its rightful owner...or the girl." -** too obvious what will happen?**

"HOW WOULD _YOU_ FEEL IF BLOOD STARTED LEAKING FROM THAT _LITTLE WORM_ OF YOURS, HUH?!" - **I feel pity at this situation…who for?...you'll find out in the next one.**

**I hope all of you stay safe, healthy, and happy especially now with Covid-19. Wash your hands, wear your masks, and practice **_**physical **_**distancing, NOT _social_ distancing. It's always important to keep in contact with friends and family for support especially during a time like this. **

**THANKS FOR READING!**

**5/13/2020**


	15. Chapter 15

**Warnings: **Rated T for themes and language. I will be using both manga and anime b/c I like parts of both plots. And errors in grammar, spelling, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn anything, but I hope to bring my OC into the world of KHR.

_Italicized words _I use them to emphasize, when there is a different language, and when the characters are thinking. If it gets confusing - sorry.

**Thank you to ALL YOU READERS who have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! d.b It makes my day when I'm notified of a new follower/favoriter and I'm eager to read any and all reviews I get. **

**Special thanks to**_ thomashailey67, merendinoemiliano, Micha247, Megi Keishii, iWasDamned,__NaRuKo-InuTaiSHo-XD, scarlet rose white, Animeweeb123_** and **_LyriaHart _**for reviewing the last chapter! **

**To** _thomashailey67_**: I completely feel you LOL. I do the exact same thing all the time. My record was binging till 6am and the sun was rising.**

**To **_merendinoemiliano_**: Thanks as always for your support and review! *hug***

**To **_Micha247_**: Glad you enjoyed the little segment :D! **

**To **_Megi Keishii_**: I've thought about it...and I'm deciding between a short little omake or using the description 'warcry' cuz I had no idea what Xena's yell was until I looked it up and it's not something that can be easily described in writing without sounding unnatural. Maybe 'Aiyaiyaiya' could be used, but yeah, kinda awkward to me. But truly, this is as far as I'll go with it since Xena was nonexistent to me until I did chakram research. I'm a novice writer so we'll see what happens. Thanks for reading my story!**

**To **_iWasDamned_**: Seeing as you've reviewed the last chapter and likely read Ch.9's beginning notes, all I can say is thanks for sticking with the story and I hope you continue to enjoy what comes next! :D**

**To **_NaRuKo-InuTaiSHo-XD_**: Dang, your name is awesome! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**

**To **_scarlet rose white_**: Thanks a bunches and sorry for the super long wait! **

**To **_Animeweeb123_**: I'm so happy! Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter and what comes next as well!**

**To **_LyriaHart_**: Just gotta say, great timing on that review, I was 4/5ths through the story and planned on uploading this chapter in the next 24 hours. And yes, 'little worm' b/c Nade is PG...mostly, LOL. I'm happy you've enjoyed the story so far and are looking forward to what comes next :D. Thanks for your support!**

**There ya go! I replied to every reviewer because of the long wait I forced on you guys. Sorry for the wait!**

**Enjoy! **

***WARNING* Varia's language again, most if not all due to Squalo, and short gore description due to Bel.**

* * *

Thunder roared in the distance as the sky darkened, a forewarning of the impending rainfall. Nadeshiko leaned against the wall looking out the window with a pensive frown.

"You know the Lightning battle is tonight, ne?" she informed Kyoya who was reclined on the reception room's couch. He didn't acknowledge her words, but she knew he was listening. "My _otouto_ is supposed to fight, but he's _so young_, Kyoya, and his opponent is supposed to be a ruthless assassin. His only chance is the ten-year bazooka, but even that doesn't guarantee a victory. Or at least one where he isn't seriously injured in the aftermath."

She made her way to the couch, sitting on the floor and leaning back against the couch and Kyoya's stomach. She closed her eyes and sighed.

A warm hand rested on her forehead. Nadeshiko opened her eyes and turned her head toward its owner. Kyoya's eyes were soft with understanding. What many didn't realize was that the Cloud cared immensely for anyone under his care and those he considered his - not that he'd ever admit it aloud.

She suspected that was why he was fine with Tsuna and his friends missing classes. He knew they were training which meant they'd be better prepared for battle and would also hopefully become _slightly_ better sparring partners - _ehem_,_ victims._

And yes, her friend knew what was going on in Namimori. Dino had done his best to distract the young prefect with fights, but during those rare breaks for food and naps, Nadeshiko informed him of what was going on. Knowing made Kyoya angsty in the 'I'll bite those herbivores to death for messing with my school' kind of way, but at least she convinced him that Vongola would fix whatever damages promptly. So far, Vongola held up their end, so the raven-haired teen hadn't gone on a rampage...yet.

Instead of missing classes to train with her shishou, she used her time to take a mental break with Kyoya who was forced into taking a break as well by Dino. She'd visit the shop/dojo after school to get in a couple of hours of training, but for now, she'd rest beside her friend.

At least as much as she could with her worry for Lambo looming overhead.

* * *

**A few minutes before the Lightning battle…**

"What is that?!" Tsuna's voice shouted through the rumbling noise of thunder. The storm had worsened with the wind and rain pelting against the windows. Large black poles could be seen on the roof as lightning flashed above.

Lambo sang cheerfully in her arms, squirming in delight as if he wasn't about to walk into a deathmatch.

The Cervello greeted them the moment they entered the rooftop with explanations of the Elettrico Circuit. _Special superconductive wires, amplified electrical currents, and imminent death by a million volts, oh my._

Those pink-haired masked ladies just jumped to the top of her 'Sic Kyoya On' list.

Lambo squirmed out of her arms, excitedly running toward the arena after seeing the way the lightning flowed through the web of wires. "Lambo-san wants to try that!"

Tsuna automatically scooped him up and scolded the five-year-old, "No, Lambo, it's dangerous!"

"So what!" He stretched and wriggled in the hopes he'd escape from the brunette's arms. "I'm gonna play out there!" he whined.

It was then that Lambo's horn fell out. Gokudera picked it up and returned it after writing "stupid cow" on it with a black sharpie. She sighed as she snatched it from his hands and reattached it to Lambo's head. She'd wash it off later.

"Guardian of the Lightning Ring, please go to the center of the arena. Your opponent has been waiting two hours," announced the left Cervello.

"Talk about being overzealous," Nadeshiko muttered as they watched the rest of the Varia drop down behind their representative.

She stood apart from Tsuna and his friends as they huddled and yelled their pre-battle cheers. Lambo was having fun, looking as if there was nothing wrong with the situation.

Tsuna crouched down in front of Lambo, "Lambo, listen carefully. If you don't want to go, you don't have to." His offer wasn't unexpected to Nadeshiko. "I don't know why Tou-san picked you, but it's wrong to make a kid as young as you fight. You don't want to die, right?"

Lambo looked at his future boss as if he was about to impart some great wisdom to him - the image wasn't helped by the fact that the toddler was picking his nose. "My, my, my. Didn't you know? Lambo-san is invincible, so Lambo-san can't die."

"If you still insist on going, take these," Tsuna offered the old horns he was given by the older Lambo the previous night. And forcibly stuffed them into his afro when Lambo was being his usual stubborn self.

Just as he was about to go, Nadeshiko halted him. "Wait! Lambo-kun!"

"Nee-chan~, Lambo-san wants to go play now!" he whined.

"I know, I know. I just wanted to tell you something." She crouched down as her brother did just moments ago and gently cupped his face in her hands as she looked him straight in the eyes. "Lambo, you're about to fight someone who's a big bully."

"Bully?"

"Mhm," she nodded, "And he's gonna try to bully you, but you won't let him, right?"

He shook his head vehemently, "Uh-uh, 'cuz Lambo-san's the best!"

"That's right!" She smiled, then whispered excitedly to him, "And, guess what?"

"What? What? What? Nee-chan, what?!"

"I have a gift for you after you show that bully who's the best."

"A gift?! What is it? What is it? Nee-chan~ you gotta tell, Lambo-san!"

"Nuh-uh, you'll only get it the moment you step out of that...playground, so that means you have to win against that overgrown bully, right?"

There was a resolve in his eyes that wasn't there before. The prospect of a reward will do that for kids. _Thank goodness. _"Lambo-san will win!"

"I'm rooting for you, _otouto_." She lowered her voice to keep the others from hearing what she'd say next and to impart the seriousness on the five-year-old, "Just know that if that bully gets to be too much that Nee-chan will help you no matter what, okay? I _will_ step in immediately. _No matter what._"

Lambo suddenly jumped back from her and gave her a two-fingered salute that made her feel all sorts of warmth at its use, "GahHAHaHa! The great Lambo-san's not worried because Lambo-san will beat the bully and Nee-chan will give Lambo-san his awesome gift!" He then turned around and entered the arena without a second look back.

_Good luck, Lambo._

"The Lightning Ring match between Leviathan versus Lambo Bovino will now begin!"

* * *

_Hm, apparently Lambo's body makes him the perfect Lightning Guardian. _It was shocking - no pun intended - just how well-suited to become the Lightning Guardian the toddler was, regardless of his age.

Everyone on Tsuna's side was tense as Leviathan began his assault on Lambo, whose height barely reached the assassin's knees. When Lambo began using the ten-year bazooka, _more than once, _things began looking up again.

Twenty years later Lambo made her proud to be the younger Lambo's Nee-chan.

Lightning pulsed in the air around Lambo as the Bovino acted like there was nothing wrong with the situation, but unlike his younger counterpart, it seemed he had good reason to not be worried. Leviathan's attack was easily absorbed and released into the ground, shattering all of the windows as the charge traveled down the building.

"He's exceeded my expectations," spoke Iemitsu. His sudden appearance shocked almost everyone, hitman not included. Nadeshiko spotted Basil beside her father and sent him a smile that was returned bashfully.

Things seemed to be working out as Lambo charged his Elettrico Cornata and effortlessly disabled Leviathan's parabolas. The power behind his attack pushed his opponent into the roof they were certain that it was Lambo's win until the smoke from the bazooka signified the return of the original Lambo.

Unfortunately and ironically, the younger Lambo collapsed under the remaining power of the electricity his older self had built up.

"In the end, The one who is more suited to being the Guardian of Lightning is still me." He moved like a man possessed as he neared the downed child.

"JUST TAKE THE RING! You don't need to hurt him anymore! He's already defeated! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she screamed, startling everyone. She scowled at the Cervello, "CALL IT! The match is _over_, he's won, alright!"

"The rings have not been reconnected, therefore the match continues," retorted the right Cervello coldly.

Tsuna and his friends tried and were stopped by Reborn and Cervello from interfering or risk losing their rings as well as the Lightning Ring.

_Who cares?! _she thought as Leviathan grew closer to Lambo. She couldn't wait anymore.

"Tsuna…" Her brother's eyes widened in the cold comprehension of what she was about to do next. "...I promised."

"Wait! Nade I'll-" he yelled.

She was a purple blur as she entered the arena. _No going back now._

* * *

Leviathan was so focused on ending the little scum that when his wrist was grabbed he turned, confused about who stopped him.

Fiercely glowing purple eyes glared up at him. A thrill of terror traveled through him. Him! An assassin who's killed hundreds was afraid of some little girl?! Only the boss should instill such fear into his unworthy body!

So distracted was he that he could only stare as she sliced through the arm she held in seconds. Up, down, up. His biceps and triceps, forearm, and wrist - all grew numb.

He cursed himself for his inattention. Finally focused, he swung with his other arm but to his disbelief and the disbelief of his comrades, the girl caught his punch by stabbing her blade into his wrist.

He felt no pain, just like when she sliced through his other arm, but once again he could feel his arm lose all feeling. And once again no blood was shed as she dragged her blade all the way to his shoulder and out, followed by a hard kick that sent him flying back into the wall behind him and beneath his colleagues.

_What the hell happened?!_

* * *

Nadeshiko quickly picked up Lambo and ran to Tsuna as fast as she could. Lambo was both hot and cold - burning from the electricity and a growing fever, and freezing from the unforgiving rain.

The Varia moved to attack the interferer until Tsuna - Sky flames blazing brightly from his forehead and gloves - resolutely stood between them.

"No matter how important they're said to be - the Vongola Rings, the position for the next boss - I'd never fight for such things. But I will fight to stop my friends from getting hurt!"

"Shut up!" The order was the only warning Tsuna had before he was blasted out of the way. There atop the water tank stood Xanxus, proud and menacing as he looked down on all of them.

Tsuna stared up at him determinedly. "What's with that look? You don't really think you can defeat me and become boss, do you?"

"I just don't want to lose any of my friends in this battle!"

"I see..." An unhinged expression crossed Xanxus's face as he gathered his flames into his hand, no doubt planning to attack Tsuna again.

The Cervello who jumped to stop him was met with equal unmercifulness as his attack was redirected on her without hesitation. "I haven't lost my temper. Rather, I'm finally having fun," he stated with a sinister grin. "Now I understand why that old geezer chose you as his successor, even if it was temporary Whether it's this nonsense called friendship or that weak flame, you and that old fool are the same," he jeered, letting out a discomfiting laugh. "This will be quite a tragedy…No, a comedy!"

"Hey, woman! Continue," he ordered the remaining Cervello.

"Of course. I shall announce the results of the match. Leviathan wins," _Not unexpected._ "And because of the interference from Sawada's side in this guardian battle, the Lightning and Sky Rings will be given to the Varia."

"Eh?!" _Well, we were expecting something like that to happen, _she thought.

Basil spoke up his own rebuttal, "That's wrong! Sawada-dono should not be disqualified, he did not enter the field!"

"The interference was caused by a member of Sawada's Family, therefore he is to be held accountable for their actions. In addition, Nadeshiko Sawada is not a Guardian. We cannot confiscate a ring. If you refuse to relinquish the Sky Ring, then she will be directly punished for her intrusion."

Their announcement was met with vehement protests from Tsuna's side. "NO WAY!" Tsuna refused.

"We are the rules," stated the Cervello. Nadeshiko scoffed at the duplicity of their _judges._ One of their own gets attacked and the Varia don't even get a slap on the wrist. Not to mention, the amount of respect they bestow on the Varia boss, _Xanxus-sama_, while her brother was only _Sawada. _It was obvious whose side they were on.

Nadeshiko spoke up. "What would the punishment be?" she asked to the astonishment of all, even the Cervello as she didn't think they'd consider anything but forfeiting the Sky Ring.

"T-then, uh - " stuttered the Cervello.

A loud guffaw from Xanxus drew every person's eyes. "Alright then! I'll give you a choice. Either you surrender the ring to its rightful owner...or the girl. The ring belongs to me. It will end up on my finger by the end of these battles anyway. And how about _this_, I give my word that she won't be _killed_."

"We refuse! _I_ refuse! Take the ring!" Tsuna decided.

"No!" she argued. "Tsu-nii, you have to keep the Sky Ring. Out of all the rings, it's the one with the most power, politically and no doubt literally. You _can't_ give it up. And you heard him, I won't be killed. I'll be fine. You know I will," she pressed.

"No, I don't. Weren't you listening to what I just said, Nade?! If I won't sacrifice my friends for the Vongola or these rings, what makes you think I'd sacrifice my own _sister_?!"

"It wouldn't be fun to eliminate her if that's what you're thinking," interjected Xanxus. "I'd rather bury _you _after you've tasted true despair in this battle for the rings...just like that old fool."

His final comment elicited a reaction from the Vongola veterans. The Young Lion of Vongola roared like his namesake, "Xanxus! You bastard! What did you do to the Ninth?!"

"Isn't that your job to find out, Outside Advisor?" he taunted.

"Don't mess with me, you-"

"Calm down, Iemitsu. There's no evidence," said Reborn.

"You, too, Reborn. Put the gun down," he advised the equally enraged hitman who held Leon's transformed self in his hand.

"What's going on? What did Xanxus do?" wondered Tsuna.

"I can't say for sure, but it seems that he may have, no, he _definitely,_ did something to the Ninth. Who knows what, though." She pushed Lambo into his arms, "Let me go, Tsuna. Lambo needs help as soon as possible...and maybe I can find out what happened to the Ninth if I go with them," she implored, whispering the latter of what she said.

"This way, the battle is still even, which gives you guys a better chance in the long run. I can take care of myself and contact you -" She shot a discreet glance at the bracelet she gave him. "- if and when I have information. I can _do_ this. _Let me help, Tsu-nii._"

Tsuna gave Nadeshiko a wry, reluctant look. Regret and worry flooded his amber eyes. The inferno of Sky Flames was barely withheld within them. "...Okay," he acquiesced. The words felt like ash in his mouth.

Nadeshiko turned around and walked toward the Varia unwaveringly. "Have you decided then? Heh, where's that unwillingness to fight for the rings to protect those '_friends_' of yours, huh? Maybe we're more alike than I thought, trash, if you've resigned your own flesh and blood to a fate possibly worse than death," Xanxus mocked. _He's just trying to scare them. Mindgames. That's all it is...hopefully._

Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei were shocked as their friend's sister proceeded toward their enemies. In front of them, Tsuna grit down and clenched his fists in dismay. Basil had to be held back by Iemitsu's firm grip on the younger male's shoulder. His protests silenced with a hard look from his master.

Iemitsu and Reborn watched resignedly. They could understand the girl's reasoning and knew that if Xanxus was given the Sky Ring then he'd have the power to order all their deaths. This may have been the best of bad options. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made in their line of work, but it didn't mean it got any easier to make them. Especially when it involved Family and_ family_.

Other than a reproachful look to Leviathan, who now stood beside the other Varia and was slowly gaining feeling back in his arms, Nadeshiko observed the rest of the Varia cooly and held herself proudly.

"Be grateful, scum. I'm giving you a chance. The remaining battles will continue as usual. If you manage to win, I'll give you the Vongola Rings and the position of boss...but if you lose, everything you cherish will be eliminated, starting with the girl. Be sure to show me the power that was chosen by that old fool." Xanxus addressed the Cervello, "Woman, go ahead."

"Yes, I will now announce tomorrow's matchup! The next battle will be between the Guardians of Storm."

Leviathan, fully recovered, joined Xanxus on the water tower and kneeled before him, "Boss, please accept this Ring of Lightning."

"I don't want it," he refused and continued, "Levi, if you disgrace me again…"

"I will kill myself." _Is he serious? _While reminiscent of the devotion the Disciplinary Committee held toward Kyoya, Nadeshiko was vaguely disgusted to see that the Varia's Lightning Guardian would go as far as the end his own life if his boss ordered him to.

Without another word, Xanxus lept away. This signaled the rest of the Varia to make their way back to their base. Belphegor smirked at their new addition, "Ushishishi, will you be able to keep up, girly?"

Nadeshiko regarded him with a raised brow, sprouted her wings, and followed after their mammoth-sized Cloud guardian who was easily trackable from her overhead position.

* * *

11:37 PM

Dino read the text Reborn sent him then shared a troubled look with his right-hand man, "Romario...I think we should keep this from Kyoya…" _He'd hunt the Varia down the instant he heard where little Nade is._

"...That'd probably be for the best, Boss."

* * *

"Ne, ne, ne, have you ever considered using throwing knives?" Bel asked as he toyed with his own knives.

"Yes and no, I suppose. I found my main weapon pretty quickly during my decision process so any other weapon wasn't really considered. Now, I'm happy with my choice," she replied. She was currently lounging on the loveseat opposite of the blonde Varia member who introduced himself as Belphegor, Prince the Ripper._ Oooo, Scary._

The name made him no less of a danger than she already considered him.

"Yeah, ushishishi, that blade of yours rendered Levi even more useless than he already is. What's it called, hm~?"

Since they arrived at this fancy hotel - she didn't even realize a hotel as luxurious as it was, existed in a place as rural as Namimori - Xanxus disappeared to his own deluxe room to eat steak, drink whiskey, and sleep till tomorrow (or rather till later in the morning). It didn't take much investigation to find _that_ out when the assassins they were warned to fear ran around like headless chickens to make sure their boss had everything he wanted before caring for their own needs.

She thought of it more as evidence of Xanxus' strength that _inspired _their loyalty and subservience than anything else.

She wasn't as exhausted as she thought she'd be - her nerves were probably on end being in enemy territory and all - and neither was Bel so he took it upon himself to begin asking her a series of questions to pass the time.

The baby called Mammon, who definitely resembled Reborn in size, abilities, and intelligence, left for their own nap. When she asked them their preferred pronouns, the hooded-baby seemed to freeze and distractedly said 'they, their, and them' as they floated out of the main area to take a nap in relative peace. _Just like Reborn and his naps_, she noted. She figured that no one had ever asked them before as directly as she just did.

While the infant didn't admit to being another Arcobaleno, Nadeshiko wouldn't discount the possibility. What were the chances that the intelligent baby who can keep up with the mafia's most skilled assassins _wasn't_ an Arcobaleno? Little to none, she reasoned. And if Mammon was the Mist Arcobaleno - Nadeshiko concluded based on the other representatives - she wondered how powerful a Mist they really were if they were meant to be the strongest.

She briefly remembered her short introduction to the Cloud Arcobaleno and the infant's annoyingly shrill voice.

Squalo didn't trust Bel to not kill her if he was left alone with her for longer than a few minutes, so he claimed a corner of the room to take short naps in and pulled up his legs on another chair for a more comfortable position. Close enough to be alerted immediately but far enough away he wouldn't be _too_ disturbed by the Storm.

She trusted, for the most part, that he'd react quickly if _something_ ended up happening.

Plus, he was the only reason she wasn't scheduled for the Varia's version of torture and interrogation. In much nicer words than he originally said to her, he basically said that as long as she did as they said, didn't try to escape, and didn't piss off their short-tempered boss that she wouldn't be harmed. They didn't plan on obtaining a hostage so her fate was up in the air at the moment. A small kink in whatever they had planned.

Mainly, she served as a psychological pressure for her brother's allies and that was enough for the Varia. For now.

Was it odd that she found some comfort in that her head currently wasn't on the chopping block?

Of course, it went more like, "Brat, I don't know what our shitty boss has planned for you but try anything and I'll cut off your legs," and other such variants with more colorful vocabulary, but the message was loud and clear. Don't do anything and we won't kill you. She read a bit more between the lines so that it was more like, Don't do anything _we'll catch you for_...and we won't kill you.

So, espionage and reconnaissance under the threat of bodily harm.

Fun.

Expected.

_Great._

As for the rest of the Varia, apparently their Sun Guardian was dumped at a Vongola sponsored hospital and Leviathan was being a creepy pervert - Bel's words, not hers - and stationed himself outside Xanxus' room so he'd be the first to do whatever Xanxus wanted the moment the big boss woke up. She came to realize the Lightning's fanaticism had no bounds, moral or otherwise. Not that it excused his actions against her _otouto_, but it rendered any sort of reasoning with him completely impossible. He knocked the Cervello from first place to second on her 'Sic Kyoya on them' list.

Before the royal blonde got too impatient, she finally answered him, "It was a split chakram."

She had no reason to say more than necessary. He could be fishing for information just like she planned on doing throughout her stay. So while she'd stick to the truth where she could, she wasn't about to tell him anything that could give them an upper hand on Tsuna's group.

"~Hm, really? Those can cut right through flesh I've heard." She shrugged seemingly absentmindedly, doing her best to act like his words meant nothing to her. Her lack of a reaction only urged him on. "If they're _so_ sharp, how come you didn't turn Levi's arm into the leftovers of a dog's dinner? I could just imagine it. The torn muscles. The agony on his face. I would have enjoyed watching the blood spurt out of his body as he yelled in absolute pain. It would have been magnificent, ushishishi."

_Wow..._she thought Xanxus was sadistic but the teen before her was the epitome of sadism crossed with a heaping tablespoon of insanity. _Gokudera-san's gonna have his work cut out for him against someone like Bel._

"Voi! Go to sleep already, you brats! It's fucking 2 AM already!" The white-haired man groaned when upon waking up from his nap he saw the two blondes _still_ talking or whatever the hell it is Bel does.

"Do I even have a room, Superbi-san? I'd be fine just resting here. It's Belphegor-san who'd have to leave in that case," she pointed out.

"Tch. Voi! Bel! Get to bed already! You're the one fighting tomorrow remember?"

"Hai, hai. The prince needs his beauty sleep anyways, ushishishi. Bye-bi, _uccellino!_" He was almost out the door before Nadeshiko stopped him momentarily.

"Oh yeah, Belphegor-san, to answer your question... it's because I'd rather not be the reason someone's maimed for life. I'll beat a person to a pulp if and when they deserve it, but they'll continue to live after learning a very important lesson."

"What lesson?"

She leaned back against the couch and watched him with a taut smile, eyes glowing orange for once. "_Don't mess with my family_."

* * *

"Oi, is this really the time to be making threats, girl?"

"Psh, as if Bel wouldn't have eaten me alive if I didn't show some sort of backbone, Squalo-san. Better do it now before it's too late. And please, feel free to call me Nadeshiko and not girl, scum, trash, or brat if at all possible."

"Whatever, brat. Don't get up to trouble and you'll at least see the sunset one more time." _Fucking hell, why do I have to be the brat's babysitter?_

"Good night, Squalo-san."

"Shut up and sleep, brat!"

* * *

*Swish*Thwack*Thwack*Thwack*

One minute, she was asleep. The next, she was in the air.

Connecting her feet back to the floor and disengaging her Mist wings, she examined her previous sleeping place which was punctured with three gleaming throwing knives.

"Ushishishi, what a shame, _uccellino. _I was looking forward to more blood than that," he pouted as if he hadn't just almost turned her into a human pincushion. _Wait...I didn't get hit?_

She examined the loveseat again, finding that small speck of dark red blood that the Storm pointed out. _Oh no...no, no, no, no. Not now, _please_, not now! _"Oh no, what do I do?!" she lamented.

"VOI! Bel, stop destroying the furniture with you knives, you brat! Whenever you break something, we have to reimburse the place!"

"Be quiet! Boss is still asleep!" warned Levi as he entered the common area to grab his boss' brunch. He noticed the blonde-haired wench standing in the middle of the room with a dumb expression on her face.

He sneered at her,_ The little tramp_.

She disgraced him in front of his boss and prevented him from teaching that scum who was destined to become the Tenth Generation Lightning Guardian. "Get that stupid look off your face and stop moping around, trash. If you don't wake up in time, you'll die, trash. You die, well shit. No one wants to hear your girlish whining, wench. I don't want your mood to affect the boss so pull yourself together or I'll make you, trash.

"..."

A dark aura surrounded the young blonde. First, Bel's 'wake-up call', then she realized where she was and who she was surrounded by, _then _the revelation that she was about to begin puberty _again_ after all those years being _free_ from the trials of womanhood surrounded said people,_**then**_ that overzealous, Xanxus-obsessed fanatic chooses to be an insulting, misogynistic piece of _trash_...This was not how to wake up an already stressed Cloud.

"Call me trash..._one more time_...and I'll make it so that you'll never be able use that mouth of yours to say more than vowels for the rest of your life, _trash_. How's it feel to be called trash back, huh, trash?! I beat you once, I can beat you again, _just try me_! Or what? Is your boss too _manly_ to take a bit of 'girlish whining' that it'd somehow affect his freaking _mood_?! WELL, TOO BAD! HOW WOULD _YOU_ FEEL IF BLOOD STARTED LEAKING FROM THAT _LITTLE WORM_ OF YOURS, HUH?!"

All of the males in the room froze. _Oh fuck, _they collectively thought.

Levi partly wanted to defend his boss and partly wanted to skulk back to his post outside his boss's room. Bel's perpetual grin was fixed unnaturally on his face - more than usual. If his bangs weren't covering his eyes, the present company would have seen how wide his eyes grew as the younger blonde grew more incensed at the Varia's Lightning.

Squalo was prepared for a fight, prepared for illusions, prepared for a damn apocalypse, but _this._ A female preteen Cloud - for those were definitely bright purple flames in her eyes and not the indigo that typically made up the girl's wing constructs - who was woken up in the worst way then repeatedly antagonized by his idiotic colleagues...Nope, he was _not_ prepared.

Mammon, hearing the commotion, floated into the room, grabbed the red-faced girl, then dragged her out behind them.

* * *

"That'll be 1,000 yen, mou." _Mini-miser._

"I don't have my wallet with me right now, but the moment I do I'll pay the full amount and an extra 300."

"500."

"_300_. The most expensive _individual_ sanitary napkin is just above one dollar, in yen that makes it about 115 yen. I'm considering your moral support 700 yen and my removal from the room, 185 yen because removing _me _saved _them_ from a pissed off Mist/Cloud/Sky user," she said wryly.

"I may not have won the fight in the end, but the damages would have cost the Varia a sizable amount of cash. I'm willing to pay the extra later because I can't pay you now and I'm thankful for your help, Mammon-san, but I'm not about to let you cheat me for more money than you already are. I'm only _eleven_, ya know. My money is from what I've saved from special occasion gifts."

She wouldn't tell the infant that she had a small but steady income from her work as a Disciplinary officer.

"Mou…" pouted the esper. They disappeared in a mass of disgruntled indigo flames leaving her alone in whichever room they dragged her to.

Nadeshiko inspected the room with a cursory gaze and tried to sense if there were any Flames present or not. How _would _she know? If Mammon was the only Mist around and they just left her alone, this may be the only chance she has to contact her brother.

She held her ring up to her eyes. Indigo flames ignited around the headless angel and flicked down toward her cuff, lighting the orange gem embedded in the leather. Almost immediately, she felt familiar Flames - _Kami, how she missed home already_ \- answering her call and connecting with her own. She pulled back a bit, preventing an image to form on her side of the connection just in case she got walked in on.

"Nade for Tsuna. Come in, Tsu-nii. Do you copy?"

"Copy? Copy what? Nade are you alright?" Tsuna responded fretfully.

She sighed lightly, "Tsu-nii, it's walkie talkie lingo. You're supposed to go, 'This is Tsuna, I copy, over.' I guess my attempt to lighten the mood was missed."

"Nade, I don't think this is the time for jokes..._Are. You. Alright?_" he urged.

"I am. I promise. Everything's fine. I have info for Gokudera-san."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, his opponent, Belphegor, uses throwing knives. And he's _good_. Also, he has a thing for blood. I'd say he's a step below an actual vampire with the way he enjoyed talking about it."

"Eh?!"

"Yeah, he's all sorts of insane with a capital I. Almost more than Xanxus in my opinion. Pretty okay to talk to as long as you ignore most of the stuff that comes out of his mouth." She shrugged, knowing he'd see it on his end of the call. "He enjoys psychological warfare as well from what I've gathered, so Gokudera-san should do his best to keep calm and collected when fighting him."

Loud stomps echoed closer.

"I have to go, Tsu-nii. I need to talk to Shamal-sensei at some point about..something...so do tell him for me, please? And tell Lambo his gift is on my desk. Oh! And make sure to tell Gokudera-san what I told you, too. Try not to worry _too_ much, ne? Love you," she gave him a two-fingered salute and cut the connection, with just enough time to curl up on the nearby couch.

The door was punted open seconds after she positioned herself, "VOI! What are you doing, brat? I can't believe Mammon didn't keep eyes on you, that lazy runt, tch."

"This is commonly known as fetal position, Squalo-san. Unless you have ibuprofen or a hot water bottle...or are secretly a woman...then I wouldn't judge," She opened her eyes to slits, allowing her Cloud inflamed eyes to narrow in on the swordsman.

Not that he knew it was easy for her to call Flames to her eyes for the sake of still looking irritated.

More power to her.

Her hand snapped up when the white-haired assassin threw something at her head. She looked at the small box in her hand she knew contained pain relief medicine in disbelief. She sent the scowling swordsman a soft smile, dry swallowed the recommended amount, and slid past him to head back to the main area.

"VOI! What's with that look, you winged brat?!"

* * *

The instant she entered the room she came face to face with the Varia's boss.

Xanxus looked as irascible as usual sitting on the most ornate chair in the room with a leg propped on the table, glowering at the world. _That must get exhausting at some point, _she mused_._

His menacing red eyes were enough of a threat. She could feel the anger in his Flames wash over her despite the fact that he wasn't even trying. She wasn't a guardian nor a willing follower. Xanxus' Flames grated against her own uncomfortably with its relentlessness demanding submission.

With what little control she had over her Sky flames, she did her best to counteract the ruthless Flames.

"You and those frauds are fools to have agreed to the Ring Battle. You're only prolonging your suffering, trash." His epithet caused his guardians to tense when the remembered the last time someone - *cough* Levi *cough* - called the girl trash.

Pff, she didn't have a death wish people. And she didn't expect his royal bossness to change his vocabulary.

"Good morning to you too, Xanxus-san." She shot the man a polite smile and took a seat in front of him. His eyes followed her movement and promised retribution if she tried anything.

Steady amber eyes and a serene smile, so different from the fifteens minutes beforehand, met calculating red. Neither spoke as they maintained eye contact. It unnerved their spectators who were preparing for one of them, likely their boss, to crack.

"Hahahaha! The Ninth should have chosen you instead of that weakling who cowers behind the Sun Arcobaleno. What a joke!"

"I know my nii-chan would make a better boss than I ever would. His compassion doesn't make him weak. Fighting for his _friends_ doesn't make him weak," she refuted calmly.

"He won't survive in our world with such a weak resolve. And neither will _you_ if you follow fools like him."

"So should I follow fools like _you_, then?"

"You scum!" he roared. His hand, glowing with his unique Sky flames, smashed into the table sending pieces of wood flying in all directions. Nadeshiko remained seated. The Varia watched.

"Unlike that fraud and the old fool, I don't allow myself to be surrounded by weaklings, so why don't we conduct a little _test_…" A wicked smirk grew on his scarred face.

"Defend yourself," he ordered as his Flames gathered in his hands.

"Boss!" they shouted simultaneously.

_Oh, frig. _"What happened to not killing me, Xanxus-san?" she hurriedly asked. She jumped out of her seat and backed up to get some distance between them.

"You'll only die if you're as weak as those foolish scum, trash. And I'll revel in the joy I'll have annihilating that brother of yours like the garbage he is while you watch me burn him to ash at my feet...If you survive that is."

* * *

_Uccellino_ = **google translate says it means 'little bird'. I thought about using **_passerotta_** (meaning 'young sparrow') but it's something used by parents for children so it'd be odd for Bel to use it. **

**What Nade did to Leviathan was inspired by the ending in the kitchen fight from The Raid 2. Warning! If you choose to watch the video, it is very bloody and worthy of a RATED M. Hopefully, my description satisfies your imagination enough. **

**I had Tsuna agree, although reluctantly, to Nadeshiko's choice to go with the Varia because I believe that he trusts her abilities to protect herself or escape if necessary. Plus, the chance for her to investigate is too good. I think if he was willing to let Lambo's fight happen that he'd **_**maybe**_** let Nadeshiko go. Do you think I made Tsuna's reactions appropriate? If not, what do you think I could do to make it more believable?**

**I was thinking that her blow up was possible b/c first time period emotions, stress, hormones, irritation, Cloudiness and her general dislike and lack of respect for Levi after what he did to Lambo makes her not feel too bad about her spiel. Again, thoughts? It was ike 4am while I was writing that part. FYI, let's just imagine Mist clean up, yeah?**

**I know MOU can stand for Memorandum Of Understanding, but I actually like the Greek usage of mou or ****μου which means "mine" when placed at the end of certain phrases or words. Don't quote me on its usage, but I find that the KHR character representing the Sin of Greed fits how I want to use the word. Who knows? Maybe Mammon/Viper is Greek?**

**If you noticed, I wasn't able to put the ***click*** I teased in the last chapter. It just occurred to me while writing that Xanxus wouldn't take out his gun just yet. It's basically his hidden weapon and I really didn't want Nade to somehow survive his full powered wrath, injured or not in the end. That's for Tsuna to experience. I think we can all agree that Xanxus' blasts already deal major damage. **

**Next up… How Nade fares, Storms fight, Kyoya returns, the Rain battle, and depending on how long I decide to make those, **_**maybe**_** the Mist battle as well? **

**This was a loooooooong chapter**

**7/8/20**


End file.
